1909 – 1943 • French • Philosopher
A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.
To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.
Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.
Beauty always promises, but never gives anything.
To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life.
Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.
