Mot Juste Quotes

#1. Engineering, like poetry, is an attempt to approach perfection. And engineers, like poets, are seldom completely satisfied with their creations. They notice, even if no one else does, the world that is not quite le mot juste, or the hairline crack that blemishes the structure.

Henry Petroski

#2. The French call mot juste the word that exactly fits. Why is this word so hard to find? The reasons are many. First, we don't always know what we mean and are too lazy too find out.

Jacques Barzun

#3. Like everyone else, I grew up loving the Anne books, but L.M. Montgomery is so much more. Like Jane Austen, she has an eye for the absurd and a gift for the 'mot juste.'

Lauren Willig

#4. Know that you make a difference in this world, even if you can't see it or understand it - you do.

Karen Higginbottom

#5. We do so much, we run so quickly, the situation is difficult, and many people say, "Don't just sit there, do something." But doing more things may make the situation worse. So you should say, "Don't just do something, sit there." Sit there, stop, be yourself first, and begin from there.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#6. It is equally important to learn from experience and from books.

Eraldo Banovac

#7. Solitude was a spell that freed her.

Robert Crais

#8. Locked together in hatred. But I can't hate you Louis. Louis my love, I was mortal till you gave me your immortal kiss. You became my mother, and my father, and so I'm yours forever. But now it's time to end it, Louis. Now it's time to leave him. - Claudia, 'Interview with a Vampire

Anne Rice

#9. Whether you are lost in the darkness or dance in the light is entirely up to you.

Steven Redhead

#10. There would be no value in worship services and symbols did they not, preserved in their Purity and Beauty, serve as aids to right living.

Lily Montagu