Great lines from The Gods Will Have Blood

A post I'll expand upon as needed and inclined.

The Gods Will Have Blood being a novel by Anatole France about the French Revolution. Not written from the aristocratic perspective, but from that of ordinary citizens. The main character, Evariste Gamelin, is an artist and student of David who can't sell any of his paintings. He is a fervent believer in the Revolution. He has occasional moments of kindness (like when he waits in line for hours for bread and then gives half of it to a young soldier's wife with a baby then tells his mother he ate half the loaf so she'll take the rest for herself) but most of the time, he's a dogmatic, humorless jackhole.

Here are Citizen Brotteaux's thoughts on fortune tellers, shared over a lunch made by Gamelin's mother to whom he has given the precious gift of a capon (poor Brotteaux, I wish I hadn't read the spoiler-ridden preface):

"Those who make a trade out of foretelling rarely grow rich. Their attempts to deceive are too easily found out and arouse detestation. And yet it would be necessary to detest them much, much more if they foretold the future correctly. For a man's life would become intolerable, if he knew what was going to happen to him. He would be made aware of future evils, and would suffer their agonies in advance, while he would get no joy of present blessings since he would know how they would end. Ignorance is the necessary condition of human happiness, and it has to be admitted that on the whole mankind observes that condition well. We are almost entirely ignorant of ourselves; absolutely of others. In ignorance, we find our bliss; in illusions, our happiness."

A little about Brotteaux. He is a former aristocrat and neighbor of Gamelin. Although his fortunes have changed significantly as a result of the Revolution, he is still a lovely, gentle man who now makes a living as best he can selling crafts. Here, from his introduction, he talks to Gamelin about some puppets he has made:

"You see here," he said, taking up again his burden, "some puppets I'm going to sell to a toy merchant in the Rue de la Loi. I've a whole village of people in there. They are my creatures. From me they have received a perishable body, free from joy and sorrow. I've not given them the power of thought since I'm a benevolent God."

Here's the thing: Evariste is such a sourpuss and prude that I can't understand why Elodie is after him, no matter how good he looks. Even given she's got limited options and (as France politely hints) she likes to swap her ponies out. I know the book will grow increasingly non-funny as it goes along but here is a great moment where Evariste goes book shopping:

At the Citizeness Tenot's stall, he leafed through various historical, political and philosophical works: The Chains of Slavery; An Essay on Despotism; The Crimes of Queens. "Splendid!" he thought. "These are true Republican books." And he asked the woman if she sold many of them.

"People only buy songs and romances."

She took a duodecimo volume from her drawer. 

"Here's something good," she said.

Evariste read the title: The Undressed Nun.