A Hymn to Life Quotes

“Shame must change sides.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“Love is not dead, I am not dead, I still have faith in people. Once that was my greatest weakness, now it is my strength, my revenge.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“It's not courage, but willpower and determination to change this patriarchal and sexist society.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“Today, looking back on the moment I made the decision, I am aware that had I been twenty years younger, I probably wouldn’t have dared request that the case be heard in open court. I would have been too afraid of the looks: those damn looks that women of my generation have always had
to contend with; those damn looks that make you waver in the morning between a dress and trousers, that follow you or ignore you, flatter you or embarrass you; those damn looks that seem to tell you who you are or what you’re worth, only to forsake you as you age. It was exactly that nerve
Dominique pressed when he told me I should be glad my husband still desired me whenever he photographed me coming out of the bathroom. I
was, no doubt, still susceptible to it. It’s foolish, but that’s how we were freer, more autonomous women, yet still afraid of being abandoned, still
longing to be saved. Maybe the shame lifts once you hit seventy and no one looks at you any more. I don’t know. I wasn’t afraid of my wrinkles or my body.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“I am not fighting the truth, but the fall.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“And yet the feeling persists: love is not dead. I am not dead. I still have faith in people. Once, that was my greatest weakness. Now it is my strength. My revenge.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“my entire life had fallen apart, but I was fine.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“Dominique elehti minulle välillä kopistaan. Hän painoi käden sydämelle. Minä en vastannut eleeseen. Tuliko ele mieheltä, jonka kanssa olin kuvitellut eläväni? Annoin hänen upota syöveriin, johon hän oli meidät syössyt. Jouduin puolustusasianajajien tulitukseen, he syyttivät minua siitä, että tuin ja suojelin monsieur Pelicot’ta. Yksi heistä sanoi, että tuijotin häntä koko ajan, toinen lisäsi että ”olin epäilyttävä”. Minä en missään tapauksessa suojellut Dominiquea, hänen pelinsä oli pelattu, hän ei enää tekisi rikoksia, ei minua eikä ketään muutakaan kohtaan.

Minä suojelin ainoastaan muistoja, siivuja meidän elämästämme, koska joskus tulipalon jälkeen pystyyn jää seiniä. Ne saattavat olla mustia ja hiiltyneitä, mutta ne seisovat pystyssä, ja niistä voi erottaa portaiden rippeet, vaihtamista kaivanneen tapetin kuviota ja askelten ja yhteisten hetkien kaiun. Sellaista minun mielessäni liikkui, minä hain tuhkasta jäänteitä, en suostunut menettämään kaikkea, taistelin sortumista, omaa sortumistani vastaan. Jos minulta olisi riuhtaistu pois elämäni viimeiset viisikymmentä vuotta, se olisi tarkoittanut etten ollut ollut olemassa. Se olisi tarkoittanut että olin kuollut.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“She must have seen my mother in me, my father's great love with whom she could never complete, the beautiful face that surely haunted his long silences.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“I now know that it comes from a deep wound within me that makes me vulnerable. But I accept that fragility”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“All I read in his violence and anger was the strength of our bond”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“I now know that it comes from a deep wound within me that makes me vulnerable. But I accept that fragility, that risk, still. To fight the emptiness, I need to love.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame has to Change Sides - THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

“I still need to believe in love. I received it intensely and too briefly from my parents, and for a long time I believed that it protected me from everything. I even believed that I knew how to give it.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame has to Change Sides - THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

“You don't get a second chance at life. If I erased everything, it would mean I was dead. And had been for years.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“Words have more power to hurt at that age than any other, and childhood shame is not soon forgotten.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“La vie m'envoyait un message contradictoire : tout s'était effondré, mais j'allais bien.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, Et la joie de vivre

“a menina que nada nem ninguém jamais conseguiu consolar, nem o amor, nem a amizade, nem a maternidade.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, Um hino à vida: A vergonha precisa mudar de lado

“Me he pasado la vida llenando el silencio con música, he combatido el insomnio con la radio y he rellenado los huecos del día a día cocinando, ordenando la casa y persiguiendo el polvo, las migas, el desorden, las arrugas y las malas hierbas, seguro que parezco una maniática, pero limpiar es fundamental para mí, el más mínimo grano de arena podría echarlo todo a perder y los miedos de una niña podrían alcanzarme.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, Un himno a la vida: Mi historia

“But what’s the point of going in search of a life I never had, trying to pinpoint the moment I took a wrong turn? I understand only too well the sequence of events that led to our first meeting, which was so powerful that I found myself talking about it in the office of Deputy Sergeant Perret as if it had been just the day before. There’s no point getting lost in regret.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“Un combat commençait dans ma tête. Celui de l'ombre et de la lumière. De l'étincelle de notre rencontre, j'avais fait une flamme. Fallait-il souffler dessus ? L'éteindre pour de bon, comme le semblaient réclamer mes enfants ?”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

“Non salvavo lui, salvavo me. Così sono riuscita ad andare verso un’elaborazione del lutto che la rabbia non consente. La rabbia blocca tutto. Il pensiero, le emozioni. Qualunque possibilità di rasserenarsi.”
― Gisèle Pelicot, A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides