Saturday 4 January 2014

Misquoted writers on the internet, brief attention spans

We all love short , inspiring quotes:

Albert Camus is quoted as saying  

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”

Inspiring, implying that we should train our hearts to bend so they don't break?
Look at the whole paragraph in its original language: 

“Heureux les coeurs qui peuvent plier car ils ne seront jamais brisés. Sont-ils si heureux que ça. Un coeur qui ne se brise pas ne peut pas guérir si on ne connait ni l'épreuve ni la guérisson on n'apprend rien et si l'on n'apprend rien on ne change pas. Mais les épreuves et les changements font partie de la vie. Tous les coeurs devraient-ils être brisés?”

Here's my translation with the help of Google translator

"Lucky are those whose hearts that can bend because they will never be broken. Are they happy? A heart that does not break cannot heal; if you're not tested and healed you learn nothing and so nothing changes. Trials and change are part of life. Do all hearts need to be broken? " translated by Google and adapted by me.

Camus' intent is exactly the opposite of the abbreviated aphorism; hearts need to break so they can heal. TV and the internet are breeding a short attention span that misses out on the wisdom of brave and profound writers like Albert Camus.



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