Oh, hasten not this loving act, Rapture where self and not-self meet: My life has been the awaiting you, Your footfall was my own heart's beat.
Paul ValeryRead
That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Consensus does not guarantee truth; commonly accepted beliefs may be incorrect.
Paul Valery suggests that just because something is widely accepted and embraced by society does not necessarily mean it is true. This statement encourages critical thinking and questioning of established norms, indicating that popular belief can sometimes lead to false conclusions.
Themes
TruthBeliefKnowledgeThinkingCertainty
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate about societal norms, one might use this quote to highlight that popular opinion isn't always correct.
More from Paul Valery
All quotes βThe history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds.
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The world acquires value only through its extremes and endures only through moderation; extremists make the world great, the moderates give it stability.
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It would be impossible to "love" anyone or anything one knew completely. Love is directed towards what lies hidden in its object.
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You have certainly observed the curious fact that a given word which is perfectly clear when you hear it or use it in everyday language, and which does not give rise to any difficulty when it is engaged in the rapid movement of an ordinary sentence becomes magically embarrassing, introduces a strange resistance, frustrates any effort at definition as soon as you take it out of circulation to examine it separately and look for its meaning after taking away its instantaneous function.
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Latent in every man is a venom of amazing bitterness, a black resentment; something that curses and loathes life, a feeling of being trapped, of having trusted and been fooled, of being helpless prey to impotent rage, blind surrender, the victim of a savage, ruthless power that gives and takes away, enlists a man, drops him, promises and betrays, and -crowning injury- inflicts on him the humiliation of feeling sorry for himself.
Paul ValeryRead
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