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
When we see life, we call it beautiful. When we see death, we call it ugly. But it is more beautiful still to see oneself living at great speed, right up to the moment of death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is beautiful in its intensity, and both life and death have their own beauty when viewed from a certain perspective.
Jean Genet reflects on the nature of life and death, suggesting that while society often views life as beautiful and death as ugly, there is a deeper beauty to be found in the experience of living fully and passionately, even in the face of mortality. The quote emphasizes the significance of embracing life at its fullest, right up to its conclusion, as an extraordinary journey that should be cherished.
Themes
LifeDeathBeautyLivingExperienceMortality
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a eulogy to celebrate the life of someone who lived fully.
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.
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I'm homosexual. How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green.
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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.
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I decided to be what crime made of me.
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It's a true image, born of a false spectacle.
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