“The only liberty possible is a liberty as regards death. The really free man is the one who, accepting death as it is, at the same time accepts its consequences—that is to say, the abolition of all life s traditional values. Ivan Karamazov s Everything is permitted is the only expression there is of a coherent liberty. And we must follow out all the consequences of his remark.”
“Thought is always out in front. It sees too far, farther than the body which lives in the present.”
“Tragedy forms a closed world, in which we stumble over and knock against obstacles. In the theater, tragedy must be born and die in the restricted area of the stage”
“We used to wonder where war lived, what it was that made it so vile. And now we realize that we know where it lives, that it is inside ourselves. For most people, it s the embarrassment, the need to make a choice, the choice which makes them go but feel remorse for not having been brave enough to stay home, or which makes them stay at home but regret that they can t share the way others are going to die.”
“It is always useless to try to cut oneself off, even from other people s cruelty and stupidity. You can t say: I don t know about it. One either fights or collaborates. There is nothing less excusable than war, and the appeal to national hatreds. But once war has come, it is both cowardly and useless to try to stand on one side under the pretext that one is not responsible. Ivory towers are down. Indulgence is forbidden—for oneself as well as for another people. It is both impossible and immoral to judge an event from outside. One keeps the right to hold this absurd misfortune in contempt only by remaining inside it. One individual s reaction has no intrinsic importance. It can be of some use, but I can justify nothing. Dilettante s dream of being free to hover above his time is the most ridiculous form of liberty. This is why I must try to serve. And, if they don t want me, I must also accept the position of the despised civilian. In both cases, I am absolutely free to judge things and to feel as disgusted with them as I like. In both cases, I am in the midst of the war and have the right to judge it. To judge it and to act.”
“It s always useless to try to cut oneself off, even from other people s cruelty and stupidity. You can t say: I don t know about it. One either fights or collaborates. There is nothing less excusable than war, and the appeal to national hatreds. But once war has come, it is both cowardly and useless to try to stand on one side under the pretext that one is not responsible. Ivory towers are down. Indulgence is forbidden—for oneself as well as for other people. It is both impossible and immoral to judge an event from outside. One keeps the right to hold this absurd misfortune in contempt only by remaining inside it. One individual s reaction has no intrinsic importance. It can be of some use, but I can justify nothing. Dilettante s dream of being free to hover above his time is the most ridiculous form of liberty. This is why I must try to serve. And, if they don t want me, I must also accept the position of the despised civilian. In both cases, I am absolutely free to judge things and to feel as disgusted with them as I like. In both cases, I am in the midst of the war and have the right to judge it. To judge it and to act”
“A time comes when one can no longer feel the emotion of love. The only thing left is tragedy. Living for someone or for something no longer has any meaning. Nothing seems to keep its meaning except the idea of dying for something.”
“Some people are wise only when they are in public.”
“Smart is only a construct of correspondence between one s abilities, one s environment, and one s moment in history. I am smart in the right way, in the right time, on the right end of globalization.”
“We are mistaken if we totally ignore the opinions of our critics; we need them for balance. Sometimes your critics will speak truth to you that your admirers will not.”
“Experience is what we do with what we learn. The one who has experience uses intelligence to change his life with what he has learned.”
“The wisest men in the world do not betray their wives, for they know that they value their intelligence by their side.”
“L hésitation est le propre de l intelligence.”
“It is much more difficult for women to succeed in science than for men, not because their intelligence is lower than that of men, but because, unlike men, they tend to spend their time and energy mainly on conversations and dreams. However, what makes them women is only those distinguishing features, without which they would resemble men, not women.”
“When we war against nature, we war against ourselves. There is no distinction, no dividing line, no enemy. We devour everything in a lust for self-destruction. As if that is intelligence’s only gift.”
“Don’t be a sapiosexual, be a sapiosensual. This is why I say I consider myself a sapiosensual (a term I just made up) because I DON’T LOOK FOR INTELLIGENCE IN A PERSON, I LOOK FOR SOUL, DEPTH, PASSION, VULNERABILITY AND SENSUALITY. All these equates to AUTHENTICITY to me. So, yes, I’m probably snobbish too, I judge a person on how I feel about their authenticity.”
“It is only the dumb beast that understands futile gestures – the cold necessity for them, in the face of all the hard truths. We who hold to the higher aspirations of the intellect, we surrender too quickly. And yet, in looking upon that dog – a creature knowing only loyalty and courage – we find flavours to wound our own souls.”