Believe in individual initiatives, in courage, in risk.
Emmanuel MacronRead
Europe and the world are waiting for us to defend the spirit of the enlightenment everywhere.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of upholding Enlightenment values globally.
Emmanuel Macron's quote highlights a call to action to protect and promote the ideals of the Enlightenment—such as reason, individualism, and freedom—in contemporary society. It suggests that both Europe and the wider world look to leaders and citizens to champion these principles, especially in times of uncertainty or challenge.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of democracy.
Believe in individual initiatives, in courage, in risk.
A romantic or classical view of the French approach would have been to say, 'It's a French company; let no one attack it. Let's block any merger. But the reality is Alcatel-Lucent is not a French company; it's a global company. Its main markets are China and the U.S. Its ownership is foreign; most of its managers aren't French.
Popularity isn't my compass. Unless it can help one to act, to be understood... that's what counts.
Our mission... it will be difficult, it will take time, it will be demanding for all men and women... will be to act in such a way that French people of the Muslim faith are always more proud of being French than of being Muslim.
I will defend Europe; it is our civilisation which is at stake... I will work to rebuild ties between Europe and its citizens.
Brexit is the other face of the refugee crisis - tensions that lead to stasis, external risks that lead to asymmetric shocks.
Every physicist knows that things connect with each other. To isolate things is not the way the universe works - winning best actor is arbitrary.
Solitude is the place where we can connect with profound bonds that are deeper than the emergency bonds of fear and anger.
The enemies of freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot.
We have contingency plans for war, but none for peace.
What? Was man made a wheel-work to wind up, And be discharged, and straight wound up anew? No! grown, his growth lasts; taught, he ne'er forgets: May learn a thousand things, not twice the same.
Thoughts can create such a barrier that even if you are standing before a beautiful flower, you will not be able to see it. Your eyes are covered with layers of thought. To experience the beauty of the flower you have to be in a state of meditation, not in a state of mentation. You have to be silent, utterly silent, not even a flicker of thought - and the beauty explodes, reaches to you from all directions. You are drowned in the beauty of a sunrise, of a starry night, of beautiful trees.
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