“When you are a child you are yourself and you know and see everything prophetically. And then suddenly something happens and you stop being yourself; you become what others force you to be. You lose your wisdom and your soul.”

—  Jean Rhys

Source: After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie

Last update Jan. 24, 2024. History

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Jean Rhys 38
novelist from Dominica 1890–1979

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Variant translations
If you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
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