They came from the four corners of the earth, driven by hunger, plague, tumors, and the cold, and stopped here. They couldn’t go any futrther because of the ocean. That’s France, that’s the French people.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the struggles and determination of the French people in the face of adversity.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine's quote emphasizes the idea of human perseverance against various hardships such as hunger, disease, and harsh conditions. By highlighting the journey of those who arrived at France, the quote poignantly captures the essence of what it means to be part of a community shaped by both suffering and resilience, underscoring the geographical and metaphorical significance of the ocean as a barrier to further displacement.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about immigration and the strength it requires.
Not much music left inside us for life to dance to. Our youth has gone to the ends of the earth to die in the silence of the truth. And where, I ask you, can a man escape to, when he hasn't enough madness left inside him? The truth is an endless death agony. The truth is death. You have to choose: death or lies. I've never been able to kill myself.
To travel is very useful, it makes the imagination work, the rest is just delusion and pain. Our journey is entirely imaginary, which is its strength.
In the kitchens of love, after all, vice is like the pepper in a good sauce; it brings out the flavor, it’s indispensable.
Truth is a pain which will not stop. And the truth of this world is to die. You must choose: either dying or lying. Personally, I have never been able to kill myself
Reason died in 1914, November 1914 ... after that everybody began to rave.
Poor people never, or hardly ever, ask for an explanation of all they have to put up with. They hate one another, and content themselves with that.
If you would know who controls you see who you may not criticise.
But you see, a rich country like America can perhaps afford to be stupid.
She'd never imagined it like this-when she thought of someone (a woman like herself)losing her mind, she'd imagined shrieks and wails, hallucinations; but at that moment it had seemed clear that there was another way, far quieter; a way that was numb and hopeless, flat, so much so that an emotion as strong as sorrow would have been a relief.
In polite society, we call our obsessions hobbies.
We have to stop and be humble enough to understand that there is something called mystery.
It is not a mark of manhood to carelessly use the name of the Almighty or of His Beloved Son in a vain and flippant way, as many are prone to do.
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