2/22/2010

Stendhal's epitaph

Stendhal wrote his own epitaph: "Errico Beyle, Milanese: visse, scrisse, amò." (Henri Beyle, Milanese: he lived, wrote, loved.) His real name was Marie-Henri Beyle, and he did live, write, and love. If I were him, however, I would reverse the order of the words and write "he loved, wrote, lived". It was because he loved that he was able to write about the things he wrote, and it was because he loved and wrote that he lived his life to the fullest extent.

3 comments:

  1. I can see that your rearrangement gives an evaluation of his life. But still I appreciate the original line. It was because he lived and wrote that he learnt to love, which is the greatest value of all.

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  2. If he didn't live he couldn't write or love at all.

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