French writer and literary critic André Paul Guillaume Gide (1869–1951) was born on this day in Paris. The son of a law professor, Gide discovered a deep passion for books and writing early in life.

He observed, “Knowing how to free oneself is nothing; the difficult thing is knowing how to live with that freedom.”

A trailblazing influence on existentialists such as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, Gide co-founded The New French Review (La Nouvelle Revue Française) in 1908, shaping the course of European literature.

His novels include The Immoralist (1902), a bold exploration of individual freedom, and The Counterfeiters (1926), his candid portrait of life in Paris before World War I.

In Fruits of Earth, he wrote, “Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness. Once you make this all-important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral obligation.”

When Gide received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947, his art was praised for illuminating human problems and conditions “with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight.”

He advised, “Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.”