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Quote by Marguerite Yourcenar

“Je doute que toute la philosophie du monde parvienne à supprimer l'esclavage : on en changera tout au plus le nom. Je suis capable d'imaginer des formes de servitudes pires que les notre parce que plus insidieuses : soit qu'on réussisse à transformer les hommes en machines stupides et satisfaites, qui se croient libres alors qu'elles sont asservies, soit qu'on développe chez eux, à l'exclusion des loisirs et des plaisirs humains, un goût du travail aussi forcené que la passion de la guerre chez les races barbares. A cette servitude de l'esprit, ou de l'imagination humaine, je préfère encore notre esclavage de fait.”

Quote by Marguerite Yourcenar

Work

Mémoires d'Hadrien

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Author

Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar

Marguerite Yourcenar was a renowned French novelist, known for her historical novels. Her works are celebrated for their profound insight and rich imagination, with her most famous novel being 'Orlando'. Born on June 8, 1903, she passed away on December 17, 1987. more

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“Je doute que toute la philosophie du monde parvienne à supprimer l'esclavage : on en changera tout au plus le nom. Je suis capable d'imaginer des formes de servitudes pires que les nôtres parce que plus insidieuses : soit qu'on réussisse à transformer les hommes en machines stupides et satisfaites, qui se croient libres alors qu'elles sont asservies, soit qu'on développe chez eux, à l'exclusion des loisirs et des plaisirs humains, un goût du travail aussi forcené que la passion de la guerre chez les races barbares. A cette servitude de l'esprit, ou de l'imagination humaine, je préfère encore notre esclavage de fait.”

“In metric, one milliliter of water occupies one cubic centimeter, weighs one gram, and requires one calorie of energy to heat up by one degree centigrade—which is 1 percent of the difference between its freezing point and its boiling point. An amount of hydrogen weighing the same amount has exactly one mole of atoms in it. Whereas in the American system, the answer to ‘How much energy does it take to boil a room-temperature gallon of water?’ is ‘Go fuck yourself,’ because you can’t directly relate any of those quantities.”

“I have a choice: I can get all upset and self-pitying about his attitude, boo hoo, my dad doesn’t love me, isn’t proud of me, or accept that he is damaged. I decide to be calm and level-headed about it: This man is incapable of love. He is to be pitied. And I never mention my life in music again. From that moment on I only talk to him about neutral things – health, weather, history – because I understand that for some reason, that’s all he can cope with. It’s not me, it’s him who has a problem, and I really can’t use up any more time and energy on being a victim of my father’s inadequacies. I have got to get on with my life.”