There are no elements so diverse that they cannot be joined in the heart of a man.
Jean GiraudouxRead
I remember a time when a cabbage could sell itself by being a cabbage. Nowadays it’s no good being a cabbage – unless you have an agent and pay him a commission. Nothing is free anymore to sell itself or give itself away. These days, Countess, every cabbage has its pimp.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on how commercialization and external influences have changed the value of even the simplest things.
Jean Giraudoux's quote critiques modern society's shift towards commercialization and the need for intermediaries in transactions. He humorously illustrates that even a mundane object like a cabbage, which once held intrinsic value, now requires an agent to facilitate its worth in a market-driven environment, symbolizing the loss of authenticity and simplicity in today's world.
Themes
CabbageCommercializationAuthenticityValueSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the effects of commercialization on art and culture.
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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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!
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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.
Jean GiraudouxRead
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