The despondency that follows makes me feel somewhat like a shipwrecked man who spies a sail, sees himself saved, and suddenly remembers that the lens of his spyglass has a flaw, a blurred spot -- the sail he has seen.
Jean GenetRead
I leave you free to imagine any dialogue you please. Choose whatever may charm you. Have it, if you like, that they hear the voice of the blood, or that they fall in love at first sight... Conceive the wildest improbabilities. Have it that the depths of their beings are thrilled at accosting each other in slang. Tangle them suddenly in a swift embrace or a brotherly kiss. Do whatever you like.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote invites readers to use their imagination to create their own narrative and emotions in a given situation.
Jean Genet's quote emphasizes the freedom and power of imagination in storytelling and human connection. He encourages individuals to create their own interpretations of interactions and relationships, allowing for a myriad of possibilities, from romantic encounters to profound emotional connections. This highlights the fluid and subjective nature of experience and the joy of constructing personal meanings.
Themes
ImaginationFreedomNarrativeConnectionEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a creative writing workshop, a facilitator might use this quote to inspire students to explore their storytelling limits.
More from Jean Genet
All quotes →Erotic play discloses a nameless world which is revealed by the nocturnal language of lovers. Such language is not written down. It is whispered into the ear at night in a hoarse voice. At dawn it is forgotten.
Jean GenetRead
I'm homosexual. How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green.
Jean GenetRead
I wanted to swallow myself by opening my mouth very wide and turning it over my head so that it would take in my whole body, and then the Universe, until all that would remain of me would be a ball of eaten thing which little by little would be annihilated: that is how I see the end of the world.
Jean GenetRead
I decided to be what crime made of me.
Jean GenetRead
It's a true image, born of a false spectacle.
Jean GenetRead
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