I have a different idea of a universal. It is of a universal rich with all that is particular, rich with all the particulars there are, the deepening of each particular, the coexistence of them all.
Aime CesaireRead
I am talking about societies drained of their essence, cultures trampled underfoot, institutions undermined, lands confiscated, religions smashed, magnificent artistic creations destroyed, extraordinary possibilities wiped out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the destruction of cultures and values by oppressive forces.
Aime Cesaire's quote poignantly addresses the deep loss experienced by societies when their core essence and cultural identities are systematically eroded. It highlights the grave consequences of oppression, including the dismantling of institutions, the confiscation of lands, the destruction of religions, and the obliteration of artistic expressions, leaving a void where extraordinary potential once thrived.
Themes
CultureOppressionLossIdentityArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on cultural preservation, one might say, 'As Aime Cesaire noted, we cannot allow our cultures to be trampled underfoot.'
More from Aime Cesaire
All quotes βA man screaming is not a dancing bear. Life is not a spectacle.
Aime CesaireRead
Africa, help me to go home, carry me like an aged child in your arms. Undress me and wash me. Strip me of all of these garments, strip me as a man strips off dreams when the dawn comes. . . .
Aime CesaireRead
It is no use painting the foot of the tree white, the strength of the bark cries out from beneath the paint.
Aime CesaireRead
Similar quotes
Joy and sorrow in this world pass into each other, mingling their forms and their murmurs in the twilight of life as mysterious as an overshadowed ocean, while the dazzling brightness of supreme hopes lies far off, fascinating and still, on the distant edge of the horizon
Joseph ConradRead
I do ask myself why I make people so enraged, because I only ever say what I think. And while I know it might not be everyone's point of view, that doesn't seem particularly intolerable to me.
Roger ScrutonRead
We may not agree with what religions are trying to teach us, but we can admire the institutional way in which they're doing it.
Alain De BottonRead
Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.
Charles EamesRead
I'm not one of those people who's so blinded by my own work and my sweat. It's kind of risky writing a memoir when you're really part of a larger universe.
QuestloveRead
I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one's burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Albert CamusRead