Quotes from Postman Cheval

On the Ideal Palace, nearly all the quotes come directly from the Postman, but some of them were borrowed from famous figures, For the brave heart, nothing is impossible is from Jacques Cœur. 

The Postman inscribes the time he spent working on his monument.

In his monument, the Postman Cheval has written his own date of birth, to leave his mark.

Over all these years of hard work beside the Postman, his wheelbarrow remained loyal. For 33 years, each evening, he set out with it to collect the stones that he had left on the side of the path. A special place was created for the wheelbarrow inside the Palace.

My companion in suffering

I am the faithful companion of the intelligent worker who, each day, in his company, searched for his small share.

This wall is full of quotes which reinforce the notion of a friendship between the Postman and his various tools, from his pot, to a trowel, to a spade...

It was I, his wheelbarrow, who had the honor of accompanying him in his labor over 27 years.

Each time you look at me, you see your life pass you by. It's not time that passes, it is us.

One of Postman Cheval's most remarkable traits was his will-power and determination.

My will has been as strong as this rock. 

By creating this rock, I wanted to prove what willpower is capable of.

On the Ideal Palace's East facade, Postman Cheval even created an Egyptian tomb, where he wanted to be buried, next to his wife. However, the Church and the Town Hall rejected this request.

Here, equality, the young and the old shall come together in eternal fraternityThe simplicity of the body makes for a virtuous soul.

1882, on the path of life, I fought bravely alone in the quest of finding true glory.

These Arabic inscriptions are the souvenir of an Egyptian visitor's trip to the Palace in 1910, which Postman Cheval copied, at the feet of his three Giants. Meaning: None may claim that sweetness is in love, whilst love is more bitter than patience.

A poem by Emile Roux Parassac, in tribute to the monument. It is after this poem that Postman Cheval named his Ideal Palace.

The gallery is full of quotes about the concept of genius.

The Pantheon of an Obscure Hero
This quote proves that this monument was intended as a tomb.

One Day, This Rock Will Surely Speak
In this quote, we can read that the Postman was convinced that his work would outlive him, over the years. It is engraved at the end of a long corridor in the Palace's Gallery.

Dreams come to be.

Amongst the recurrent themes in the quotes of the Palace, religion appears several times, and not only in relation to Biblical tradition.

One of the entrances to the Gallery is a mosque. This shows the universalist nature of Ferdinand Cheval's work. 

In the Ideal Palace, the Postman wrote over 60 quotes, that can be seen here in Hauterives.

The minutes of leisure that my service allowed me, I built this palace in one thousand and one nights, where I engraved my memory.