“A really free mind is scarcely attached to its opinions. If the mind cannot help giving birth to ... emotions and affections which at first appear to be inseparable from them, it reacts against these intimate phenomena it experiences against its will.” IfsGivingMindFirstsHelpingEmotionOpinionBirthAffectionIntimateInseparableGiving Birth Author:Paul Valery
“It is a sign of the times, and not a very good sign, that these days it is necessary - and not only necessary but urgent - to interest minds in the fate of Mind, that is to say, in their own fate.” MindInterestFateVery GoodThese DaysUrgent Author:Paul Valery
“The commerce of minds was necessarily the first commerce in the world, ... since before bartering things one must barter signs, and it is necessary therefore that signs be instituted.There is no market or exchange without language. The first instrument of all commerce is language.” WorldMindFirstsLanguageInstrumentsCommerceE CommerceBartering Author:Paul Valery
“Freedom of mind and mind itself have been most fully developed in regions where trade developed at the same time. In all ages, without exception, every intense production of art, ideas, and spiritual values has occurred in some locality where a remarkable degree of economic activity was also manifest.” MindHas BeensArtIdeasAgeSpiritualValuesEconomicActivityDegreesTradeProductionsIntenseRemarkableExceptionRegionsManifestSpiritual ValuesLocality Author:Paul Valery
“Interruption, incoherence, surprise are the ordinary conditions of our life. They have even become real needs for many people, whose minds are no longer fed by anything but sudden changes and constantly renewed stimuli. We can no longer bear anything that lasts. We no longer know how to make boredom bear fruit. So the whole question comes down to this: can the human mind master what the human mind has made?” PeopleKnowsNeedsMindHumansMadeRealWholeLastsKnow HowOur LivesConditionsMastersBearsOrdinarySurpriseFruitBoredomFedsHuman MindStimulusInterruptionsIncoherenceSudden Change Author:Paul Valery
“An attitude of permanent indignation signifies great mental poverty. Politics compels it votaries to take that line and you can see their minds growing more impoverished every day, from one burst of righteous indignation to the next.” MindNextLinesAttitudePovertyGrowingPermanentGreat MenRighteousParliamentIndignationRighteous Indignation Author:Paul Valery
“A man who is 'of sound mind' is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key.” MenMindSoundKeysOneselfInsanityBeing YourselfAbout YourselfSanityJust BeingLocksMadmenBeing SingleMadness And SanityInsanity And SanityMadness And InsanitySound MindLock And Key Author:Paul Valery
“His heart is a desert island.... The whole scope, the whole energy of his mind surround and protect him; his depths isolate him and guard him against the truth. He flatters himself that he is entirely alone there.... Patience, dear lady. Perhaps, one day, he will discover some footprint on the sand.... What holy and happy terror, what salutary fright, once he recognizes in that pure sign of grace that his island is mysteriously inhabited!” MindHeartWholeEnergyGraceHolyOne DayPureProtectDepthDearTerrorDesertIslandsSandSurroundScopeFootprintFright Author:Paul Valery
“The mind has transformed the world, and the world is repaying it with interest. It has led man where he had no idea how to go.” MenWorldMindIdeasInterestNo IdeaTransformedRepaying Author:Paul Valery
“A limited vocabulary, but one with which you can make numerous combinations, is better than thirty thousand words that only hamper the action of the mind.” WritingMindActionThousandCombinationThirtyVocabularyHamper Author:Paul Valery
“History is the most dangerous product which the chemistry of the mind has concocted. Its properties are well known. It produces dreams and drunkenness. It fills people with false memories, exaggerates their reactions, exacerbates old grievances, torments them in their repose, and encourages either a delirium of grandeur or a delusion of persecution. It makes whole nations bitter, arrogant, insufferable and vainglorious.” PeopleMindWellsWholeDreamNationsMemoriesKnownHistoryDangerousProduceProductsPropertyReactionsBitterDelusionChemistryArrogantPersecutionWell KnownTormentGrandeurReposeDrunkennessGrievanceDeliriumInsufferable Author:Paul Valery
“Every man expects some miracle — either from his mind or from his body or from someone else or from events.” MenMindBodyEventsMiracleEvery Man Author:Paul Valery
