Si on me presse de dire pourquoi je l'aimais, je sens que cela ne se peut exprimer qu'en répondant: parce que c'était lui; parce que c'était moi.
Variants: If a man urge me to tell wherefore I loved him, I feel it cannot be expressed but by answering: Because it was he, because it was myself.
If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because it was I.
Book I, Ch. 28
Essais (1595), Book I
Source: The Complete Essays
Si on me presse de dire pourquoi je l'aimais, je sens que cela ne se peut exprimer qu'en répondant : « Parce que c'était lui, parce que c'était moi.»
Évoquant son amitié avec Étienne de La Boétie .
Essais, Livre I
Variant: Si on me presse de dire pourquoi je l'aimais, je sens que cela ne se peut exprimer qu'en répondant: parce que c'était lui; parce que c'était moi.
Source: The Complete Essays
“Why didn't he say goodbye?
I gave myself a bruise.
Why didn't he say 'I love you'?”
Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
“and when he
catches me
off guard
and says
'i love you'
i catch him
off guard
and say 'i need your help.”
Source: The Realm of Possibility
“Why should you love him whom the world hates so?
Because he love me more than all the world.”
German's exasperation with the perception of fellow composer Coates imitating his own style, in a letter to his sister Rachel (4 January, 1925)
