“In the Beginning was the Fable.”
Tityrus, p. 169, quoting "a philosopher whose name I have forgotten". The philosopher is Valéry himself, who used this phrase at the end of his essay on Poe's Eureka, and elsewhere (Dialogues, textual note on p. 195).
Dialogue de l'arbre (1943)
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Paul Valéry 89
French poet, essayist, and philosopher 1871–1945Related quotes
“Where do begin, he asked, Where you always have to begin, at the beginning”
Source: The Cave (2000), p. 53 (Vintage 2003)
“Everywhere there is, at most, only a beginning of beginnings.”
The Renaissance in India (1918)
Context: To attempt to penetrate through the indeterminate confusion of present tendencies and first efforts in order to foresee the exact forms the new creation will take, would be an effort of very doubtful utility. One might as well try to forecast a harmony from the sounds made by the tuning of the instrument. In one direction or another we may just detect certain decisive indications, but even these are only first indications and we may be quite sure that much lies behind them that will go far beyond anything that they yet suggest. This is true whether in religion and spirituality or thought and science, poetry and art or society and politics. Everywhere there is, at most, only a beginning of beginnings.
“Real power begins where secrecy begins.”
Part 3, Ch. 12, § 1.
The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)
“Endings are beginnings, and beginnings are ours to turn into something good.”
Source: Everlasting
“The light
Begin to bleed,
Begin to breathe,
Begin to speak.
D'you know what?
I love you better now.”
Song lyrics, Hounds of Love (1985), The Ninth Wave