The Flaneur Quotes

“Americans consider the sidewalk an anonymous backstage space, whereas for the French it is the stage itself.”
― Edmund White, The Flaneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris

“The observer is a prince who, wearing a disguise, takes pleasure everywhere.

That eminently Parisian compromise between laziness and activity known as flanerie.

Americans are particularly ill-suited to be flaneurs. They are always driven by the urge towards self-improvement.

In New York you can tell by people's body language that no one cares what other people think of them, whereas in Paris everyone is judging everyone and the only people who have this American-style insouciance are the insane.”
― Edmund White, The Flaneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris

“It's a mild hell so comfortable that it resembles heaven.”
― Edmund White, The Flaneur: A Stroll through the Paradoxes of Paris