I had friends. The idea of being forever separated from them and from all their troubles is one of the greatest sorrows that I suffer in dying. Let them at least know that to my latest moment I thought of them.
Interpretation
The quote expresses deep sorrow over the thought of leaving friends behind in death.
In this quote, Marie Antoinette reflects on the profound emotional connection she has with her friends and the pain associated with the idea of leaving them due to her impending death. She conveys that the bonds of friendship are so significant that the mere thought of being separated from them brings her great sorrow, emphasizing the importance of these relationships in her life.
In practice
During a heartfelt speech at a memorial, one might reflect on the enduring bonds of friendship using this quote.
Qu'ils mangent de la brioche. Let them eat cake. On being told that her people had no bread. Attributed to Marie-Antoinette, but remark is much older. Rousseau refers in his Confessions, 1740, to a similar remark, as a well-known saying. Others attribute the remark to the wife of Louis XIV.
I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long.
No one understands my ills, nor the terror that fills my breast, who does not know the heart of a mother.
I trust we shall never be reduced to the painful extremity of seeking the aid of Mirabeau.
The story, from beginning to end, I found again in a heart of a friend.
Loving friendships provide us with a space to experience the joy of community in a relationship where we learn to process all our issues, to cope with differences and conflict while staying connected.
I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another.
We read not only because we cannot know enough people, but because friendship is so vulnerable, so likely to diminish or disappear, overcome by space, time, imperfect sympathies, and all the sorrows of familial and passional life.
When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun.'
Service cannot be expected from a friend in service; let him be a freeman who wishes to be my master.
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