The scapegoat has always had the mysterious power of unleashing man's ferocious pleasure in torturing, corrupting, and befouling.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the dark human tendency to project guilt and blame onto others, deriving pleasure from their suffering.
Francois Mauriacβs quote addresses the unsettling psychological phenomenon of scapegoating, where individuals or groups deflect their own guilt and issues onto others. This action not only highlights a moral failing but also reveals a disturbing aspect of human nature, as many find a sense of satisfaction in the mistreatment of those they perceive as guilty or responsible for societal ills. The scapegoat embodies the complexities of human relationships and the capacity for cruelty inherent within us all.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, one could use the quote to highlight the dangers of scapegoating marginalized communities.
The man who partakes in the breaking of the bread dares to build his house on the very core of love. He becomes, as it were, Godlike, but regardless of the strength he derives from it, his free will remains. We are always free to disown this immense grace, to abuse it. The Greatest Love may be betrayed. Fed on the Living Bread, we nevertheless conceal a part of ourselves which longs for swine's food.
That is the mystery of grace: it never comes too late.
Human love is often but the encounter of two weaknesses.
No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever.
To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.
Where does discipline end? Where does cruelty begin? Somewhere between these, thousands of children inhabit a voiceless hell.
Tolerating a wrong attitude toward another person causes you to follow the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are.
In coming to understand anything we are rejecting the facts as they are for us in favour of the facts as they are.
There's just some kind of men you have to shoot before you can say hidy to 'em. Even then, they ain't worth the bullet it takes to shoot 'em.
Litigant. A person about to give up his skin for the hope of retaining his bones.
The world was conquered through the understanding of dogs; the world exists through the understanding of dogs.
The trace I leave to me means at once my death, to come or already come, and the hope that it will survive me. It is not an ambition of immortality; it is fundamental. I leave here a bit of paper, I leave, I die; it is impossible to exit this structure; it is the unchanging form of my life. Every time I let something go, I live my death in writing.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.