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.
Georges BernanosRead
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!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the nurturing role of mothers and the often comforting nature of lies told for the sake of protection or reassurance.
In this quote, Georges Bernanos reflects on the complexities of motherhood and the moral implications of the truths and lies that mothers share with their children. He suggests that while the truth may hold significance, the comforting lies that mothers tell can serve as a nurturing mechanism that helps children feel safe and secure in a world full of uncertainties.
Themes
TruthLiesMotherhoodNurturingRelationshipsProtection
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a discussion on parenting styles at a workshop.
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
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