“What is there more mysterious than clarity?… What more capricious than the way in which light and shade are distributed over hours and over men?”

—  Paul Valéry

Socrates, p. 107. Ellipsis in original.
Eupalinos ou l'architecte (1921)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "What is there more mysterious than clarity?… What more capricious than the way in which light and shade are distributed…" by Paul Valéry?
Paul Valéry photo
Paul Valéry 89
French poet, essayist, and philosopher 1871–1945

Related quotes

Adam Weishaupt photo
Victor Hugo photo
Gaio Valerio Catullo photo

“What is given by the gods more desirable than the fortunate hour?”
Quid datur a divis felici optatius hora?

LXII
Carmina

Warren Farrell photo
Louis Brandeis photo

“It is, as a rule, far more important how men pursue their occupation than what the occupation is which they select.”

Louis Brandeis (1856–1941) American Supreme Court Justice

The Opportunity in the Law, 39 American Law Review 555, 555 (1905).
Extra-judicial writings

Maya Angelou photo

“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”

Variant: It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.
Source: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Roger Ebert photo

“Such is the disposition of men, that we value what is speculative and precarious, more than what is safe and beneficial.”

William Playfair (1758–1824) British mathematician, engineer and political economist

Observations on the Trade to Flanders, Chart IX, page 40.
The Commercial and Political Atlas, 3rd Edition

Constantine P. Cavafy photo

“One candle is enough. Its gentle light
will be more suitable, will be more gracious
when the Shades arrive, the Shades of Love.”

Constantine P. Cavafy (1863–1933) Greek poet

To Call Up the Shades http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=17&cat=1
Collected Poems (1992)

Jean de La Bruyère photo

“Nothing more clearly shows how little God esteems his gift to men of wealth, money, position and other worldly goods, than the way he distributes these, and the sort of men who are most amply provided with them.”

Rien ne fait mieux comprendre le peu de chose que Dieu croit donner aux hommes, en leur abandonnant les richesses, l'argent, les grands établissements et les autres biens, que la dispensation qu'il en fait, et le genre d'hommes qui en sont le mieux pourvus.
Aphorism 24
Les Caractères (1688), Des biens de fortune

Related topics