There are no elements so diverse that they cannot be joined in the heart of a man.
Jean GiraudouxRead
When a grown man reaches forty, we change him for an old one. He has completely disappeared. There's only the most superficial resemblance between the two of them. Nothing is handed on from one to the other.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the transformative nature of aging, suggesting that by the age of forty, a person may no longer resemble their younger self.
Jean Giraudoux's quote contemplates the process of aging and identity. It conveys the idea that as individuals grow older, especially by the age of forty, they undergo significant changes that can alter their essence and characteristics. The statement suggests a deep transformation, implying that the older version of a person bears little true resemblance to their earlier self, both in terms of personality and experience. This highlights the notion that life experiences can profoundly shape who we are over time.
Themes
AgingIdentityTransformationLife StagesSelf
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the value of experience, one might quote Giraudoux to emphasize the importance of growth over time.
More from Jean Giraudoux
All quotes →A stock certificate is not a tool, like a shovel, or a commodity, like a pound of cheese. What we sell a customer is not a share in a business, but a view of the Elysian Fields. A financier is a creative artist. Our function is to stimulate the imagination. We are poets!
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Everyone, when there's war in the air, learns to live in a new element: falsehood.
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It's odd how people waiting for you stand out far less clearly than people you are waiting for.
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It would be better if only the old men fought the wars. Every country is the country of youth. When its youth dies, it dies with them.
Jean GiraudouxRead
A man has only one way of being immortal on earth: he has to forget he is a mortal.
Jean GiraudouxRead
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