There are no elements so diverse that they cannot be joined in the heart of a man.
Jean GiraudouxRead
A stock certificate is not a tool, like a shovel, or a commodity, like a pound of cheese. What we sell a customer is not a share in a business, but a view of the Elysian Fields. A financier is a creative artist. Our function is to stimulate the imagination. We are poets!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the creative and imaginative aspects of finance rather than viewing it purely as a transactional tool.
Jean Giraudoux suggests that the essence of finance transcends mere transactions; it is about inspiring and painting a vision for clients. By likening financiers to poets, he highlights the importance of creativity and imagination in the world of financial services, suggesting that they offer not just shares in a business but a perspective on greater possibilities and dreams.
Themes
FinanceImaginationCreativityVisionArtistry
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a financial seminar to inspire students about the creative side of finance.
More from Jean Giraudoux
All quotes →When a grown man reaches forty, we change him for an old one. He has completely disappeared. There's only the most superficial resemblance between the two of them. Nothing is handed on from one to the other.
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Everyone, when there's war in the air, learns to live in a new element: falsehood.
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It's odd how people waiting for you stand out far less clearly than people you are waiting for.
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It would be better if only the old men fought the wars. Every country is the country of youth. When its youth dies, it dies with them.
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A man has only one way of being immortal on earth: he has to forget he is a mortal.
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