Albert Memmi Quotes
Albert Memmi was a Tunisian-French Jewish philosopher, novelist, and essayist whose The Colonizer and the Colonized became one of the founding texts of postcolonial thought, with a preface by Jean-Paul Sartre. Drawing on his own experience as a Tunisian Jew educated in French institutions, he reconstructed the colonial relation as a deformation of both the colonizer, who must accept privileges he cannot justify, and the colonized, whose self-image is shaped by the gaze of the master. The quotes below are attributed to Albert Memmi, organized by topic.
Albert Memmi on Death
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“I was cornered, without any escape, and began to think of death for the first time in my life. Without being at all strange or foreign, this idea of suicide was born within me quite spontaneously and gently, like the world coming to life at dawn. At once, suicide seemed familiar to me, like a release, and I was surprised how convenient and tempting so serious an action could seem. The ultimate solution to my problems was within my own power.”
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“If my nose had been too long that might have been fixed in a couple of weeks in a clinic, or a gangrenous arm could be amputated, but I had a heart that was defective. My misfortunes were never chance encounters, and I could not easily avoid them. The more I get to know myself, the more aware I become of this. To put an end to this state of affairs would mean putting an end to myself, to die or to go mad. My principal's temporary appointment would end one day, but I would never find the solution to my problem because I am that problem.”
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Albert Memmi on Freedom
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Attributed to Albert Memmi:
“Liberation is achieved twice, once in the world and once in the self.”
Albert Memmi on God
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“Travel if you wish, taste strange dishes, gather experience in dangerous adventures, but see that your soul remains your own. Do not become a stranger to yourself, for you are lost from that day on; you will have no peace if there is not, somewhere within you, a corner of certainty, calm waters where you can take refuge.”
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Albert Memmi on Happiness
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“It was in the Passage that I discovered tribal life and learned to hate it. How happy had been the intimacy of our blind alley, now lost for good! As long as I had lived alone, I had lived in peace.”
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Albert Memmi on Knowledge
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“Sleep, when one has no worries, tastes like honey.”
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“Then the long walk in the sun brought us back to the coffeehouse where we always found the same crowd of Sabbath friends, cheerful and loud, smelling of eau de Cologne and of snuff. How blessed was the Sabbath coffeehouse where we remained pure because there was no cigarette smoke and where our conversation remained courteous because we were forbidden to play cards! In addition, I enjoyed a child’s privileges: everyone had a smile for me and welcomed me, making room for me. Seeing myself treated in this manner by grown men, I felt that I assumed a man’s dignity.”
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“Since that day, I have slowly acquired the uneasiness about my clothes that characterizes the poor who are ashamed. I was no longer at my ease in any suit: I felt that I was badly dressed and that I attracted the attention of all. I feared, even when wearing a new suit, the mockery of others at my unsuccessful attempts. That is how I became what is known as careful of my clothes.”
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Albert Memmi on Life
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“Once I had overcome my rage against Vichy, the numerus clausus , and the Fascist Legion, I began to doubt the treason of France. To accept it would indeed have been unbearable. All my ambitions, my studies, and my life were founded on this choice. How much would I have to uproot in myself now? What would be left of me? It was in this dreadful moment that I finally caught a glimpse of my ruin. If I rejected what I was becoming would I be able to return to what I had been?”
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Albert Memmi on Mind
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Attributed to Albert Memmi:
“The Jew is the object of the gaze of others; that gaze must be answered, not avoided.”
Albert Memmi on Politics
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Attributed to Albert Memmi:
“The colonizer cannot stop himself from being a colonizer; the colonized cannot easily stop himself from being colonized.”
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Attributed to Albert Memmi:
“Privilege is a deformation of the privileged.”
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Attributed to Albert Memmi:
“Decolonization is not the end of the colonial relation; it is the beginning of its long working out.”
Albert Memmi on Virtue
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“How vain and futile are all theoretical and philosophical constructions of the mind when compared to the brutal realities of the world of men! The European philosophers build the most rigorous and virtuous moral codes, and their politicians, brought up by these teachers, foment murders as a means of government.”
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“Before one scoffs at national pride and the fatherland, at wealth and good manners, love of one's country, family, and traditions, one must have arrived at a proper evaluation of one's country, have had enough to eat, and have received a good education. Then one can look on from afar and make wisecracks. But I have no sense of humor and not enough courage to be cynical.”
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