“A poet should leave traces of his passage, not proofs. Traces alone engender dreams.”

— René Char

Un poète doit laisser des traces de son passage, non des preuves. Seules les traces font rêver.
As quoted in The French-American Review (1976) by Texas Christian University, p. 132
Variant translation: A poet must leave traces of his passage, not proofs. Only traces bring about dreams.
As quoted in Popular Dissent, Human Agency, and Global Politics (2000) by Roland Bleiker, p. 50

Original

Un poète doit laisser des traces de son passage, non des preuves. Seules les traces font rêver.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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René Char 4

20th-century French poet 1907–1988

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