Jules Renard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jules Renard
Born	Pierre-Jules Renard (1864-02-22)22 February 1864 Châlons-du-Maine, Mayenne, France
Died	22 May 1910(1910-05-22) (aged 46) Paris, France
Occupation	Author
Spouse	Marie Morneau ​ (m. 1888)​

Pierre-Jules Renard (born February 22, 1864 – died May 22, 1910) was a famous French writer. He was known for his books Poil de carotte (which means Carrot Top, published in 1894) and Les Histoires Naturelles (Nature Stories, published in 1896). He was also a member of the Académie Goncourt, a very important French literary group.

Early Life of Jules Renard

Jules Renard was born in Châlons-du-Maine, Mayenne, France. His father, François Renard, was building a railroad there. Jules grew up in a town called Chitry-les-Mines. He had three older brothers and sisters. His childhood was sometimes described as difficult.

Even though he didn't go to a special school for talented students, Jules loved books and writing. From 1885 to 1886, he served in the military.

Jules Renard's Career and Family Life

On April 28, 1888, Jules Renard married Marie Morneau. They lived in Paris, a big city in France. Jules started visiting places where writers met and began writing for newspapers in Paris. He made friends with other writers like Alfred Capus.

Jules Renard wrote many different things. He wrote poems, short stories, plays, and novels. His most famous work was Poil de carotte. In 1904, he was chosen as the mayor of Chitry les mines. A few years later, in 1907, he became a member of the Académie Goncourt. This was a big honor for a writer. Jules Renard passed away in Paris in 1910.

Jules Renard's Writing Style

Illustration for Poil de carotte (1902).

Many of Jules Renard's stories were inspired by the countryside where he grew up. He was good at describing people in a clever and sometimes funny way. In his book Histoires naturelles, he wrote about animals as if they were people, and people as if they were animals! He also believed in pacifism (being against war) and anticlericalism (being against the church having too much power).

His Journal, 1887–1910 (published after he died in 1925) is a very special book. It shows his thoughts, feelings, and funny observations about life and other writers. It's like looking inside his mind.

Other famous writers were inspired by Jules Renard. For example, the English writer Somerset Maugham decided to publish his own journals after reading Renard's. Maugham said that Renard's journal was "wonderfully good reading" and "witty and subtle." The American writer Gilbert Sorrentino even based his book Red the Fiend on Renard's Poil de carotte.

You can even find quotes from Jules Renard on road signs in Ladakh, India. One sign says, "Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired."

Famous Works by Jules Renard

Famous Quotes by Jules Renard

A quote by Jules Renard on a road sign in India, part of Project HIMANK.

• It is not how old you are but how you are old.
• If you are afraid of being lonely, don't try to be right.
• Writing is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
• Culture is what's left after you have forgotten everything.
• I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't.
• Look for the ridiculous in everything, and you will find it.
• If money does not make you happy; give it back.
• Writing is the only way to talk without being interrupted.
• If one were to build the house of happiness, the largest space would be the waiting room.
• Dying serves no purpose so die now.
• The horse is the only animal into which one can bang nails.
• We don't understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it.
• I find when I do not think of myself I do not think at all.
• Failure is not the only punishment for laziness; there is also the success of others.
• Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.
• The only man who is really free is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse.
• Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.
• As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more.
• I am never bored anywhere; being bored is an insult to oneself.
• If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more.
• Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.
• Not everybody can be an orphan.

See also

In Spanish: Jules Renard para niños

• Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, a list which includes the Journal