"Everything is on such a clear financial basis in France. It is the simplest country to live in. No one makes things complicated by becoming your friend for any obscure reason. If you want people to like you you have only to spend a little money. I spent a little money and the waiter liked me. He appreciated my valuable qualities. He would be glad to see me, and would want me at his table. It would be a sincere liking because it would have a sound basis. I was back in France."

3 likes

Source: Ernest Hemingway (2016). “The Sun Also Rises”, p.119, Hamilton Books

About the author

Ernest Hemingway

Novelist

Ernest Hemingway was a celebrated American novelist and short story writer known for his distinctive prose style and works like 'The Old Man and the Sea.'

All quotes by Ernest Hemingway →

Same author

More quotes by Ernest Hemingway

See all →
Ernest Hemingway Novelist

"Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

Read quote
Ernest Hemingway Novelist

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed."

Read quote
Ernest Hemingway Novelist

"Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry: Worry never fixes anything."

Read quote