Octave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeauwas a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde. His work has been translated into thirty languages...
NationalityFrench
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth16 February 1848
CountryFrance
attached check civilization civilized conflict cowardly dead desires fashion feeling free ideas joy lack life lose moment moral mortal obliged people permanent poisoned pretend pretenses respect social suppress troubled vain wound
You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you find absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world.
and-love murder born
Murder is born of love, and love attains the greatest intensity in murder.