
“Il y a des gens niais qui se connaissent et qui emploient habilement leur niaiserie.”
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
Cahiers = Notebooks
Variante: La guerre, c'est un massacre de gens qui ne se connaissent pas, au profit de gens qui se connaissent, mais ne se massacrent pas.
Source: This apocryphal quote from Paul Valéry is never precisely sourced: neither on the internet nor in the works we have consulted. See: https://www.guichetdusavoir.org/question/voir/52650
“Il y a des gens niais qui se connaissent et qui emploient habilement leur niaiserie.”
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
“Les auteurs de massacres sont simplement des gens qui en ont eu ASSEZ.”
Mass-murderers are simply people who have had ENOUGH.
en
The Naked Civil Servant (Fonctionnaire du nu)
“La perspective de profits démesurés incite les gens à surestimer leurs propres aptitudes.”
Non, ce pays n'est pas pour le vieil homme, 2005
Any mistakes I've made are war wounds I wear proudly because they've shaped me more than anything else. I can only hope that if I'm patient and diligent enough, if I continue to grow as an artist and a human being, people will come to realize that I'm not some callous, power-hungry, sex-crazed control freak who sings occasionally. They'll see me for what I am. But just in case they never do, the people important to me, my friends and family, they know. They've always known, and that's enough for me.
en
Années 1990
“Brave gens, dignitaires
Tout le monde laissait faire
Par profit ou manque de courage
[…]”
In extremis, 2015, Le pays d'à côté
“Nous ne trouvons guère de gens de bon sens, que ceux qui sont de notre avis.”
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)