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 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses an intense desire for total dissolution and merging with the universe, reflecting existential themes.
This quote by Jean Genet conveys a profound longing for annihilation and unity with the cosmos. The imagery of swallowing oneself represents a wish to become one with everything, suggesting a deep existential questioning regarding existence, identity, and the end of the world. It emphasizes a sense of dissolution, not just physically but also in the context of the self and the universe, highlighting the inevitable fate of all beings.
Themes
ExistenceUniverseAnnihilationDissolutionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about existentialism in a philosophy class.
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 decided to be what crime made of me.
Jean GenetRead
It's a true image, born of a false spectacle.
Jean GenetRead
Anyone who hasn't experienced the ecstasy of betrayal knows nothing about ecstasy at all.
Jean GenetRead
Similar quotes
A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master.
George WashingtonRead
Forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny.
Jared DiamondRead
It was clear to me, as I glanced back over my earlier life, that a loving Providence watched over me, that all was directed for me by a higher power.
Hans Christian AndersenRead
To become the enemy, see yourself as the enemy of the enemy
Miyamoto MusashiRead
When my father started talking about strip mining in the Appalachia back in the '60s, I remember a conversation I had with him where he said, you know, this is the richest state in the country if you look at the resources and the land, but the poorest people after the state of Mississippi: the 49th poorest people in the country.
Robert Kennedy, Jr.Read
Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead