The Book of Monelle Quotes

“Look: each moment is a cradle and a casket: may all life and all death seem strange to you.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“May your course not run from one end to the other; for such a course does not exist; but may every step you take mark a redressed projection.
With your left foot you shall wipe out the footprint of your right foot.”
― Marcel Schwob, El libro de Monelle

“Do not be surprised,' she said. 'It is I, and it is not I; You shall find me again, and you shall lose me; Once more shall I come among you; for few men have seen me, and none has understood me; And you shall forget me, and you shall recognize me, and you shall forget me.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“It was at this time that people found along the roads and highways little children, tiny vagabonds who refused to grow up. Little girls of seven years knelt and prayed that they might not grow older, for puberty seemed to them a sign of mortality.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Behold the word: Destroy, destroy, destroy. Destroy within yourself; destroy what surrounds you. Make space for your soul and for all other souls.

Destroy all good and all evil. Their ruins are the same.

Destroy the old dwellings of man and old the dwellings of the soul; what is dead is a distorting mirror.

Destroy, for all creation comes from destruction.

And for higher benevolence you must annihilate lower benevolence. And thus new good appears saturated with evil.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Look: each moment is a cradle and a casket: may all life and all death seem strange and new to you.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Monelle grew quiet and looked at me: I came from the night, she said, and I shall return to the night. For I too am a young prostitute.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“The very desire for the new is merely the hunger of the soul seeking form”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“With your left foot you shall wipe out the footprint of your right foot.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Y Monelle agregó: Te hablaré de los momentos. [...]
Piensa en el momento. Todo pensamiento que dura es una contradicción.
Ama el momento. Todo amor que dura es odio.
Sé sincero con el momento. Toda sinceridad que dura es una mentira.
Sé justo con el momento. Toda justicia que dura es injusticia.
Actúa en función del momento. Toda acción que dura es un reino difunto.
Siente la felicidad del momento. Toda felicidad que dura es desgracia.
Ten respecto por los momentos y no establezcas relaciones entre las cosas. [...]”
― Marcel Schwob, El libro de Monelle

“Monelle found me in the plain where I was wandering and took me by the hand. “Do not be surprised,” she said. “It is I, and it is not I; “You shall find me again, and you shall lose me; “Once more shall I come among you; for few men have seen me, and none has understood me; “And you shall forget me, and you shall recognize me, and you shall forget me.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Ne dis pas : je vis maintenant, je mourrai demain. Ne divise pas la réalité entre la vie et la mort. Dis : maintenant je vis et je meurs.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“You must not weep," she said, "unless you wish to distress me in my waiting; and perhaps I will not be waiting long. So do not be sorry anymore. I bless you for having helped me to sleep in my little silken nest, of which the finest white silk is made of you, and where I sleep now, rolled up upon myself.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“How could I forget you, my love? For you are in my waiting, against which I sleep, but I cannot explain it to you. You remember, I loved the soil so much, and I would dig up the flowers, just to be able to plant them again; you remember, I often said: 'If I were a little bird, you would put me in your pocket when you go? O my love, I am here in the good soil like a black seed, and I am waiting to be a little bird.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“None of them, you see, can stay with you. They would be too sad, and they are ashamed to stay. When you cry no more, they dare not look at you. They teach you the lesson they have to teach you, and then they go. They come through the cold and the rain to kiss your foreheads and dry your eyes, and the awful shadows take them back.
For they must perhaps go elsewhere.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“You shall find me again, and you shall lose me;
Once more shall I come among you; for few men have seen me, and none has understood me;
And you shall forget me, and you shall recognize me, and you shall forget me.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“You shall find me again, and you shall lose me;
Once more shall I come among you; for few men have seen me, and none has understood me;
And you shall forget me, and you shall recognize me, and you shall forget me”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Postpone the moment not; you would fatigue the throes of death.
Look: each moment is a cradle and a casket: may all life and all death seem strange and new to you.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Be slave to no garment, neither of the soul nor of the body.
Never strike twice with the same side of the hand.
Gaze not upon your reflection in death; let your image be carried away in the water flowing past.
Flee from ruins, and weep not in their midst.
At night, when you shed your clothing, undress yourself of your diurnal soul; stand naked at every moment.
All satisfaction shall seem deathly to you. Whip it forth.
Digest not days past: nourish yourself with what is yet to come.
Confess not to things past, for they are dead; confess to the future that lies before you.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Be slave to no garment, neither of the soul nor of the body.
Never strike twice with the same side of the hand.
Gaze not upon your reflection in death; let your image be carried away in the water flowing past.
Flee from ruins, and weep not in their midst.
At night, when you shed your clothing, undress yourself of your diurnal soul; stand naked at every moment.
All satisfaction shall seem deathly to you. Whip it forth.
Digest not days past: nourish yourself with what is yet to come.
Confess not to things past, for they are dead; confes to the future that lies before you.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Wait not for death: it is within you. Be its partner and hold it close to you; it is much like you.
Die your own death; envy not deaths of the past. Vary the genres of death with the genres of life.
Take for living all that is uncertain, all that is certain for dead.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Behold the word: Destroy, destroy, destroy. Destroy within yourself; destroy what surrounds you. Make space for your soul and for all other souls.
Destroy all good and all evil. Their ruins are the same.
Destroy the old dwellings of man and the old dwellings of the soul; what is dead is a distorting mirror.
Destroy, for all creation comes from destruction.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“And Monelle said again: I pity you, I pity you, my love. Even so, I shall return to the night; for it is necessary that you lose me before you find me again. And if you find me again, I shall elude you once more. For I am she who is alone. And Monelle said again: Because I am alone, you shall give me the name Monelle. But you shall imagine that I have every other name.”
― Marcel Schwob, The Book of Monelle

“Τότε η Λουβέτ θυμήθηκε και προτίμησε ν'αγαπάει και να υποφέρει”
― Marcel Schwob, Το Βιβλίο της Μονέλ