What does the truth matter? Haven't we mothers all given our sons a taste for lies, lies which from the cradle upwards lull them, reassure them, send them to sleep: lies as soft and warm as a breast!
Georges BernanosRead
Fear, true fear, is a savage frenzy. Of all the insanities of which we are capable, it is surely the cruelest. There is naught to equal its drive, and naught can survive its thrust.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True fear can be a powerful and destructive force that drives us to irrational acts.
In this quote, Georges Bernanos articulates the idea that fear, when experienced deeply, can become a savage and uncontrollable force that leads to chaos and cruelty. It emphasizes the destructiveness of fear, suggesting that it not only overwhelms rational thought but also drives individuals to the most extreme behaviors, ultimately leaving no one unscathed in its wake.
Themes
FearDestructionCourageInsanityDrive
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about overcoming personal fears.
More from Georges Bernanos
All quotes →I know the compassion of others is a relief at first. I don't despise it. But it can't quench pain, it slips through your soul as through a sieve. And when our suffering has been dragged from one pity to another, as from one mouth to another, we can no longer respect or love it.
Georges BernanosRead
It's a fine thing to rise above pride, but you must have pride in order to do so.
Georges BernanosRead
Hell, madame, is to love no longer.
Georges BernanosRead
God! how is it that we fail to recognize that the mask of pleasure, stripped of all hypocrisy, is that of anguish?
Georges BernanosRead
Have you never been moved by poor men's fidelity, the image of you they form in their simple minds? Why should you always talk of their envy, without understanding that what they ask of you is not so much your worldly goods, as something very hard to define, which they themselves can put no name to; yet at times it consoles their loneliness; a dream of splendor, of magnificence, a tawdry dream, a poor man's dream -and yet God blesses it!
Georges BernanosRead
Similar quotes
True courage is not the brutal force of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve of virtue and reason.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
On the day when I was shot, all of my friends' faces were covered, except mine.
Malala YousafzaiRead
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing as they must if they believe they can do nothing. There is nothing worse because the council of despair is declaration of irresponsibility; it is Pilate washing his hands.
Edmund BurkeRead
Look what happened with the employment law in France-the law was withdrawn because the people marched in the streets. I think what we need is a global protest movement of people who won't give up.
Jose SaramagoRead
I allow myself to fail. I allow myself to break. I'm not afraid of my flaws.
Lady GagaRead
Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart
Hannah SzenesRead