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Rolland, Romain, 1866-1944

"Clerambault The Story of an Independent Spirit During the War"

Each booth at the fair displays in huge many-coloured
posters, the picture of its Beautiful Giantess; millions crowd around
to see it, but they do not tell us what they think when they come out.
Perhaps they found it difficult to think at all! Some stay inside and
others have seen nothing. But those who stand in front of the stage
gaping, they know God is there for they have seen His picture. The
wish that we have to believe in Him--that is the god of each one of
us.
"Why does this desire flame up so furiously? Because we do not want to
see the truth--and therefore _because we do see it_. Therein lies the
tragedy of humanity; it refuses to see and know. As a last resort, it
is forced to find divinity in the mire. Let us, on our part, dare to
look the truth in the face.
"The instinct of murder is deeply engraved in the heart of nature. It
is a truly devilish instinct, since it seems to have created beings
not only to eat, but to be eaten. One species of cormorants eats
fishes. The fishermen exterminate the birds. And the fish disappear,
because they fed on the excrement of the birds who devoured them. Thus
the chain of beings is like a serpent eating his own tail.... If only
we were not sentient beings, did not witness our own tortures, we
might escape from this hell.


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