Beautiful & Memorable Quotes About Paris (inc. some in French!)

Be inspired to visit the City of Light by all those who came before you with our list of beautiful, inspiring & memorable quotes about Paris (including some in French – with translations!)

Paris, the City of Light, has inspired poets, writers, artists, and dreamers for centuries. From the romantic allure of its cobblestone streets to the vibrant ambiance of its cafes, Paris has captured the imagination of people worldwide.

Join us as we delve into the words of renowned figures who have expressed their love, admiration, and fascination for this enchanting city through inspiring short quotes, memorable quotes, famous quotes – and even some quotes about Paris in French (and for those we have included the translation to English too!)

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Quotes about Paris

“Paris is always a good idea.” – Audrey Hepburn (in Sabrina)

You decide – did Audrey Hepburn (above) or Ernest Hemingway (below) utter the most famous Paris quote of all time?!

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” – Ernest Hemingway

“Paris is the city in which one loves to live. Sometimes I think this is because it is the only city in the world where you can step out of a railway station – the Gare d’Orsay – and see, simultaneously, the chief enchantments: the Seine with its bridges and bookstalls, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Tuileries Gardens, the Place de la Concorde, the beginning of the Champs Elysees – nearly everything except the Luxembourg Gardens and the Palais Royal.” – Margaret Anderson

“When good Americans die, they go to Paris.” – Oscar Wilde

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.” – Thomas Jefferson

“When spring comes to Paris, the humblest mortal alive must feel that he dwells in paradise.” – Henry Miller

“Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. It brings tears to your eyes.” – Lee Radziwill (and to see the best bits, wander the Prettiest streets in Paris or visit the Best Viewpoints in Paris!)

“We’ll always have Paris” – Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

“There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here…the French air clears up the brain and does one good.” – Vincent Van Gough

“In Paris, I really do like to try and do nothing… but that’s impossible.” – Christian Louboutin

“I had forgotten how gently time passes in Paris. As lively as the city is, there’s a stillness to it, a peace that lures you in. In Paris, with a glass of wine in your hand, you can just be.” – Kristin Hannah

“The chief danger about Paris is that it is such a strong stimulant.” – T.S. Elliot

“Secrets travel fast in Paris” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“Though I often looked for one, I finally had to admit that there could be no cure for Paris.” – Paula McLain

“To know Paris is to know a great deal.” – Henry Miller

“It’s Paris. You don’t come here for the weather.” – Adrian Leeds (and we’ve got 35+ Indoor Activities for Rainy Days in Paris for when the sun isn’t shining!)

“Paris is the only city where starving to death is still considered an art.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

“The Eiffel Tower was once thought impossible to build.” – Hector Jesus Arencibia

“He who contemplates the depths of Paris is seized with vertigo. Nothing is more fantastic. Nothing is more tragic. Nothing is more sublime.” – Victor Hugo

“America is my country. Paris is my hometown” – Gertrude Stein

“In Paris, everybody wants to be an actor; nobody is content to be a spectator.” – Jean Cocteau

“Paris is so very beautiful that it satisfies something in you that is always hungry in America.” – Ernest Hemingway

“It’s true, you never forget your first love, and for me, that will always be Paris.” – Caitriona Balfe

“Paris is a place where, for me, just walking down a street that I’ve never been down before is like going to a movie or something.” – Wes Anderson

“Paris is a city where time is best to spend doing nothing.” – Erich Maria Remarque

“What you don’t know about Paris, is that when you live there, over time, and invisible thread forms around your heart, and so when you leave, it always tugs you back.” – Robert Black

“Paris – There you can be whatever you want to be. Totally yourself.” – Langston Hughes

“An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Just add three letters to Paris, and you have paradise.” – Jules Renard

“Every time I look at the Eiffel Tower, it completely blows my mind.” – Brian Fallon

“London is a riddle. Paris is an explanation.” – G.K. Chesterson

“To study in Paris is to be born in Paris!” – Victor Hugo

“If you’re going to be sad, you might as well be sad in Paris.” – Gossip Girl

“Though you may leave Paris, Paris never really leaves you.” – Janice Macleod

“Paris is not a city; it’s a world.” – King Francis I

“The shopping, the food, the views! Paris is a city that entrances us all – and I’m no exception.” – Michael Kors

“Paris at dawn is one of those rare cities where you get the impression that something worthwhile could actually happen to you.” – Pierre Assouline

“I like the Eiffel Tower because it looks like steel and lace.” – Natalie Lloyd

“You can’t escape the past in Paris, and yet what’s so wonderful about it is that the past and present intermingle so intangibly that it doesn’t seem to burden.” – Allen Ginsberg

“Let’s go to Paris. Take me there and never look back.” – Lana Del Rey

“Paris at night is a street show of a hundred moments you might have lived.” – Courtney Maum

“You stumble, you soar. And if you’re lucky, you make it to Paris for a while.” – Amy Howard

“I love Paris for the million reasons that everybody loves the city. It’s an incredibly romantic and beautiful place.” – Alan Furst

“Breathe in Paris, it nourishes the soul.” – Victor Hugo

“If ‘Sex and the City’ taught us anything, it’s that Paris is the only city in the world that New Yorkers actually fantasize about.” – Elizabeth Bard

“I know so much is going to happen here, but I just don’t know how. It feels like Paris is full of so many adventures just waiting to be had.” – Rachel Kapelke-Dale

“She wanted to die, but she also wanted to live in Paris.” – Gustave Flaubert

“Paris is a divine section of eternity.” – E. E. Cummings

“It’s midnight. One half of Paris is making love to the other half.” – Melvyn Douglas

“People wonder why so many writers come to live in Paris. I’ve been living ten years in Paris, and the answer seems simple to me: because it’s the best place to pick ideas. Just like Italy, Spain, or Iran are the best places to pick saffron. If you want to pick opium poppies, you go to Burma or South-East Asia. And if you want to pick novel ideas, you go to Paris.” – Roman Payne

“That Paris exists and anyone could choose to live anywhere else in the world will always be a mystery to me.” – Midnight in Paris

“Paris holds the key to your heart.” – Anastasia

“A final reminder. Whenever you are in Paris at twilight in the early summer, return to the Seine and watch the evening sky close slowly on a last strand of daylight fading quietly, like a sigh.” – Kate Simon

“There should be a name for the syndrome that occurs when you’re in Paris and you already miss it.” – Rosecrans Baldwin

“Whoever does not visit Paris regularly will never really be elegant.” – Honoré de Balzac

“You’ll have to fall in love at least once in your life, or Paris has failed to rub off on you.” – E.A. Bucchianeri

“There is but one Paris, and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even – the French air clears up the brain and does good – a world of good.” – Vincent Van Gogh

“What an immense impression Paris made upon me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world!” – Charles Dickens

“The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay, I heard the laughter of her heart in every street café.” – Oscar Hammerstein II

“There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris.” – Ernest Hemingway

Quotes about Paris in French (with translations)

“Tout commence à Paris” – Nancy Spain
It all starts in Paris

“Paris est la capitale des divines tentations” – Zoé Valdés
Paris is the capital of divine temptations

“Paris outragée, Paris libérée, Paris martyrisés, mais Paris libérée” – Charles de Gaulle
Paris outraged, Paris liberated, Paris martyred, but Paris liberated

“Ajoutez deux lettres à Paris, et c’est le paradis” – Jules Renard
Add two letters to Paris, and it’s Paradise

“Paris n’est pas une ville, c’est un pays” – François 1er
Paris is not a city, it’s a country

“La vie, c’est Paris! Paris, c’est la vie!” – Marie Bashkirtseff
Life is Paris! Paris is life.

“À Paris, tout le monde veut être acteur; personne ne se résigne à être spectateur” – Jean Cocteau
In Paris, everyone wants to be an actor; no one resigns themselves to being a spectator

“Paris est une fête” – Ernest Hemingway
Paris is a party

“A Paris, vois-tu, il vaudrait mieux n’avoir pas de lit que pas d’habit.” – Maupassant
In Paris, it is better to have no bed than no clothes.

“Paris c’est pas la France, c’est Paris” – Unknown
Paris is not France, it is Paris.

“Qui attaque Paris attaque en masse tout le genre humain” – Victor Hugo
Who attacks Paris, attacks human mankind

“Le coeur de Paris, c’est une fleur. Une fleur d’amour si jolie que l’on garde dans son coeur, que l’on aime pour la vie.” – Charles Trenet
The heart of Paris is a flower. A flower of love so pretty that we keep in our heart, that we love for life

“Paris sera toujours Paris. Qu’est ce que tu veux qu’il fasse d’autre?” – Frédéric Dard
Paris will always be Paris. What else do you want him to do?

“Être parisien, ce n’est pas être né à Paris, c’est y renaître” – Sacha Guitry
To be Parisian is not to be born in Paris, it is to be reborn there.

“Le vrai parisien n’aime pas Paris, mais il ne peut vivre ailleurs.” Alphonse Karr
The true Parisian does not love Paris, but cannot live elsewhere

“Dieu a inventé le Parisien pour que les étrangers ne puissent rien comprendre aux Français.” – Alexandre Dumas
God invented the Parisian so that foreigners could not understand the French.

“Respirer Paris, cela conserve l’âme” – Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
Breathe in Paris, it saves the soul.

“C’est beau l’amour. Surtout à Paris, la nuit, quand tout le monde regarde et que personne ne voit.” – Thomas Day
Love is beautiful. Especially in Paris, at night, when everyone is watching and no one can see.

“Si vous avez la chance d’avoir vécu jeune homme à Paris, où que vous alliez pour le reste de votre vie, cela ne vous quitte pas, Paris est une fête” – Ernest Hemingway
If you are lucky enough to have lived as a young man in Paris, wherever you go for the rest of your life, it does not leave you, Paris is a moveable feast

“Paris, je t’aime.”
Paris, I love you.

And that’s a wrap. What are your favorite quotes about Paris? Let us know in the comments.
Whether you are planning the perfect Paris itinerary or just dreaming of visiting the City of Light, we hope these Paris quotes have inspired you.

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