Most writers tend to get worse rather than better. I'm determined to be one that gets better.
Edmund WhiteRead
In Paris, AIDS was dismissed as an American phobia until French people started dying; then everyone said, 'Well, you have to die some way or another.' If Americans were hysterical and pragmatic, the French were fatalistic: depressed but determined to keep the party going.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights differing attitudes towards AIDS in America and France, contrasting America’s fear with France’s resignation.
Edmund White's quote reflects on the initial dismissive attitude toward AIDS in France, where it was seen as an American problem until it began to affect the French populace directly. The juxtaposition between American hysteria and French fatalism reveals deep cultural differences in dealing with mortality and public health crises, where the French managed to acknowledge the severity of the illness while maintaining a spirit of enjoyment amidst sadness.
Themes
AidsCultureFatalismLifeDeathAcceptance
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about cultural differences in dealing with health crises.
More from Edmund White
All quotes →I've always seen writing as a way of telling the truth. For me, writing is about truth. I have always tried to be faithful to my own experience.
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In a memoir, your main contract with the reader is to tell the truth, no matter how bizarre.
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If bigots oppose gay marriage so vehemently, it must be because marriage is a defining institution for them; gays will never be fully accepted until they can marry and adopt, like anyone else.
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When we are young... we often experience things in the present with a nostalgia-in-advance, but we seldom guess what we will truly prize years from now.
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I was never an assimilationist. I always thought gays had some special mission.
Edmund WhiteRead
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