“You know, my brothers, the nature of our business. The child you see before you, thanks to a talisman stolen from the powers of Earth, is able to take possession of the Blue Bird and thus to snatch from us the secret which we have kept since the origin of life… Now we know enough of Man to entertain no doubt as to the fate which he reserves for us once he is in possession of this secret. That is why it seems to me that any hesitation would be both foolish and criminal… It is a serious moment; the child must be done away with before it is too late…”
The Oak
The Blue Bird (1908)
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Maurice Maeterlinck21
Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist 1862–1949Related quotes
Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist, and blackmailer
Edward Hutton (1922) Pietro Aretino, the scourge of princes. p. 65
Robert Peel (1788–1850) British Conservative statesman
Speech https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1817/may/09/roman-catholic-question#column_422 in the House of Commons (9 May 1817) rejecting Catholic Emancipation <br class="br">Chief Secretary for Ireland
Kevin Kelly (1952) American author and editor
Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World (1995)
William the Silent (1533–1584) stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, leader of the Dutch Revolt
William talking to his brother John, as quoted in William the Silent (1897) by Frederic Harrison p. 54
Ursula K. Le Guin Hainish Cycle
Source: Hainish Cycle, (1974), Chapter 9 (p. 300) — from the protagonist’s major speech.
Eugéne Ionesco (1909–1994) Romanian playwright
canular refers to hoaxes, humorous deceptions.
The Paris Review interview (1984)
Context: You know, the Cathars believed that the world was not created by God but by a demon who had stolen a few technological secrets from Him and made this world — which is why it doesn’t work. I don’t share this heresy. I’m too afraid! But I put it in a play called This Extraordinary Brothel, in which the protagonist doesn’t talk at all. There is a revolution, everybody kills everybody else, and he doesn’t understand. But at the very end, he speaks for the first time. He points his finger towards the sky and shakes it at God, saying, “You rogue! You little rogue!” and he bursts out laughing. He understands that the world is an enormous farce, a canular played by God against man, and that he has to play God’s game and laugh about it.
Sergei Biriuzov (1904–1964) Soviet military commander
Quoted in "Military Procurement Authorization" - Page 347 - United States - 1963