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Quote by Hugo Claus

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Het verdriet van België

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Hugo Claus
Hugo Claus

Hugo Claus was a Belgian author renowned for his novels and poetry. His works often explore themes of personal identity, family relationships, and social change. Born on April 5, 1929, he passed away on March 19, 2008. more

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“The Y Not had a waitress named Shirley who was the most disagreeable person I have ever met. Whatever you ordered, she would look at you as if you had asked to borrow her car to take her daughter to Tijuana for a filthy weekend. ‘You want what?’ she would say. ‘A pork tenderloin and onion rings,’ you would repeat apologetically. ‘Please, Shirley. If it’s not too much trouble. When you get a minute.’ Shirley would stare at you for up to five minutes, as if memorizing your features for the police report, then scrawl your order on a pad and shout out to the cook in that curious dopey lingo they always used in diners, ‘Two loose stools and a dead dog’s schlong,’ or whatever. In a Hollywood movie Shirley would have been played by Marjorie Main. She would have been gruff and bossy, but you would have seen in an instant that inside her ample bosom there beat a heart of pure gold. If you unexpectedly gave her a birthday present she would blush and say, ‘Aw, ya shouldana oughtana done it, ya big palooka.’ If you gave Shirley a birthday present she would just say, ‘What the fuck's this?' Shirley, alas, didn’t have a heart of gold.”

BelgiumWaitress
Book:Neither here nor there: travels in Europe
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“La quantité de critiques reçues concernant tout sujet est inversement proportionnelle à la valeur exacte du sujet”

PoliticsFreedomHistoryDemocracyEuropeRoyaltyMonarchyBelgium
Book:Histoire Philosophique, Politique Et Critique Du Christianisme Et Des ℗eglises Chr℗etiennes: Depuis J℗esus Jusqu'au 19. Silecle, Volume 7...
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“Appartenir à une patrie, c'est aussi s'engager pour le siècle où l'on y vit (source: émission sur la Russie sur Arte le 28/02/2012). Nos démocraties ne valent que par les hommes qui les servent. Elles ne sont donc jamais parfaites mais elles reposent sur un socle inamovible. Le passé renforce le présent et les pas hésitants qui conduisent à ce présent trouvent le chemin de l'avenir. TELL ME WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE AND I WILL TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE”

PoliticsFreedomHistoryDemocracyEuropeRoyaltyMonarchyBelgium
Book:Louis de Potter. Révolutionnaire Belge en 1830.
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“To give just one example of what the inside of this world (largely upper-class and Oxbridge world of wealth, power, and privilege) looked like: Huxley sent the UNESCO documents to his close friend the English poet Stephen Spender. In his reply, from his regular retreat at the Chalet Waldegg in Gstaad, Switzerland, Spender says that he won't burden Huxley with his own views on human rights, since he doesn't have anything 'worth saying' on the topic, but then goes on to suggest that Huxley send the documents to some of his acquaintances. This curious list of the great and the good includes the psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers, the first and second president of Czechoslovakia, the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce, Isaiah Berlin, A.J. Ayer, and W.H. Auden. Spender even gives Huxley some advice about whom to avoid: 'I honestly don't think there are any outstanding Belgians.”

BelgiumOuchBelgians
Book:Letters to the Contrary: A Curated History of the UNESCO Human Rights Survey
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“Heel dit land acteert, dit schijtgat van Europa, en al het volk dat zich erin wentelt en keert: het is een kolonie vol komedianten, het schmiert dat het een aard heeft, niet in staat tot wezenlijk contact, het verstopt zich in het voetlicht van de schone schijn en de dure restaurantrekening en het dwangmatig gewauwel over het slechte weer en over de files en de hondendrollen van de buurman, het lijdt aan overacting in de politiek en in het wielerleven – maar voor de ware ik heeft het geen volledige tekst meegekregen, nog altijd niet, ook ik niet, we zijn nog altijd boerenpummels in een te prijzig kostuum en geen andere replieken dan de boerse vloek of de geladen stilte of de rode kop van schaamte. En als die niet volstaan, improviseren we snel een platte grol, een ontwijkend vuile mop, een grappig accent, een hoog stemmetje. Nog altijd de bezielers van een middeleeuwse klucht, “De Sotternie van Nu Noch”. Typetjes, waar je mensen verwacht.”

BelgiumBelgië
Book:Sprakeloos
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