Apothegms of the edge
(Trad. Anton X)
125
Adopting a principled approach is tantamount to leaning on a walking stick in your journey across the ocean.
174
People who take themselves seriously for more than a few minutes very soon become a menace to their fellow human beings.
208
Not to say that this is the only way things are, but that this is also the way they are, and that we too often refuse to admit it.
209
This is a mirror image of our very own mediocrity, one that we dislike so much about others
We are all mediocrities, each in our own field of activity.
347
The most exquisite day is the one when you rise from your slumbers without any particular goal and return to your bed without any feelings of anxiety.
386
The end of the day is the best time of all. Once darkness arrives, I like to go and stroke my goats as they lie in the straw: everything then seems to be just pure perfection.
421
There are no 'good' or 'bad' people, but only people who are more or less aware of their ability to control or not control their worst sides.
610
Having children is tantamount to adding monsters to a steaming pot of broth. It is not hard to appreciate why fleeing and destroying this mixed brew then becomes their sole concern.
627
I see it as a more or less sentient vegetable broth, spinning around trying to escape the blender and its blurry spiralling motion, professing to be the ultimate truth but in truth being guilty of self-deception. I see the entire matter as an endlessly expanding process, filling all space, covering the stars with an intensely colourful shroud. And, from time to time, I see this tawny owl, this barn owl resting on a wire in the mist, and beyond the clouds is the smile of infinity with which we vainly try to communicate in a piecemeal fashion.
958
Tormented like everyone else, the one who offers a solution is a prankster and the one who applies it is a terrorist.
1022
The idea is not to grow in wisdom but to avoid losing momentum in the appalling crap the world is offering, and still keep smiling…
1114
Adopt a sceptical attitude, never cease pestering yourself.
1124
The place we seek to occupy in the world' s pecking order is a measure of just how oblivious we really are.
1152
Darkness is of unparalleled beauty, but this can only be truly appreciated when it is diminished by a star, be it ever so tiny.
1267
A person's honesty and competence can be judged according to how soon they suffer ill health or step aside.
1286
The future will not be any better, it will be more agitated, faster, more unstable: in a nutshell more contemporary accompanied by a past-induced state of terror.
1389
Misanthropes who forget to include themselves in the catalogue of their dislikes annoy the hell out of me.
1405
…How can we allow each individual to develop his or her own world, according to a sufficiently clear-sighted approach and without unduly disturbing other people? This is the question that should be at the heart of any universal political philosophy…
1501
The sight of a happy fool is a reminder that happiness is often a dreadful state of affairs.
1670
The last thought of a true thinker - and indeed of any human being - should be:
"Perhaps I was wrong."
1702
...Perpetual peace will depend on the recognition of a universal state of non-love…
1858
Have you really thought everything through? Good. You are now much smarter and more devastated than you were before: less dangerous for others and more harmful for yourself. All you have to do now is plant some trees.
(Blaise Lesire - Translation : Anton X)