The language of hate

In an age in which hate has become a crime, the duty of every citizen is to learn how to recognize hate so that it can be reported to the proper authorities. And who better to teach us about hate than the people whom, in another post, I extolled for their profound knowledge of love! Yes, if you have a profound understanding of love, you must have a profound understanding of hate. And if you have a profound understanding of both love and hate…you must be French!

Here is a collection of analyses of hate by great French thinkers which will help you detect this enemy of the state!

• Hatred, to someone who does not hate, is a bit like the odour of garlic to someone who has not eaten. (Jean Rostand)
  
• Hatred is always more clear-sighted and clever than friendship. (Choderlos de Laclos)
  
• Only genius is more clear-sighted than hate. (Claude Bernard)
  
• Religion is what unites us, and nothing is more religious than hate. (Christian Bobin)
  
• Hatred is life’s greatest affair. Wise men who hate no longer are ready for sterility and death. (René Quinton)
  
• Hatred is so long-lived and so stubborn that the most certain sign of impending death in a sick person is reconciliation. (La Bruyère)
  
• Hatred is a tonic, it gives vitality, it inspires vengeance, but pity kills, it makes our weakness even weaker. (Balzac)
  
• Hatred is a precious liquor, a dearer poison than the Borgias’ – because it is made with our blood, our health, our sleep, and three-quarters of our love! We must use it sparingly! (Baudelaire)
  
• Once hatred has burst out, all reconciliations are false. (Diderot)
  

Happy hunting!

The Language of Hate © John FitzGerald, 2007