I leave you the best phrases of Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet, playwright, novelist, epistolary and duelist of the seventeenth century. Bergerac has been the basis of many romantic but not historical legends, the best known being Edmond Rostand's work, Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), in which he is portrayed as a gallant and brilliant lover, but shy and ugly, with a nose remarkably large.
He was born on March 6, 1619 in Paris. The father was a lawyer and lord of Mauvières and Bergerac. At the age of seven, he was sent to a rural institution for priests to receive his primary education.
Later he moved to Paris, and continued his education at an institute called "College De Dormans-Beauvais." However, Cyrano did not complete his education.
After his education, he joined the infantry and served during the year 1639-40. He was only nineteen years old. During the 'Siege of Arras' in 1640, he was seriously wounded and left the military services.
He then spent considerable time working with the well-known mathematician, scientist, and philosopher Pierre Gassandi. During his days with Gassandi, Cyrano also met other intellectuals such as Molière and Chapelle.
Cyrano then ventured to write. It seems that his first work was "Le Pédant Joué", a work that belonged to the genre of comedy. Although this work was written in 1645, it is not clear when the act was first performed.
The following year, Cyrano wrote the introduction for 'The Judgment of Paris', a poetic work composed by one of his closest friends, Charles Copeau d'Assoucy.
One of the most prominent works of Cyrano's career was La Mort d'Aggrippine, written in 1646. This tragedy, divided into five acts, dealt with the exploitation of power and the growth of corruption. The play became so popular that it was published in 1653, and was performed twice the following year. Even after two centuries, the work was returned to the public in 1872.
During the last years of his life, Cyrano began to write two of his most influential works entitled "Voyage to the Moon" and "The States and Empires of the Sun". Although the latter was incomplete, both works were published during the years 1657 and 1662, respectively.
A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th century.
You may also be interested in these phrases from books or about reading.
Curiosities
- His full name was Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac and he was born in Paris on March 6, 1619.
- He entered the army and was a soldier in Gascoña, although he left his military career after being wounded in combat.
- He was known for his aggressiveness, arrogance, and bravery.
- His great physical characteristic was his big nose, although he knew how to laugh at himself. As he said it is "a peninsula from which boats could be launched."
- He frequented the circle of libertines, a group of rebellious intellectuals.
- His love affairs were many and varied, including homosexual relationships.
- In 1654 an event aggravated Savinien's already weak health; a plank fell on his head when he was walking down a Parisian street.
- He wrote two works considered as precedents of science fiction; The States and Empires of the Moon and History of the Republic of the Sun.
- Among other things created by Cyrano's imagination are: a ball that contained sunlight as a light bulb to light up, a book that contains mechanisms to listen to the voice of the authors in the manner of modern audiobooks, mobile homes or a artificial eye with the ability to see at night.
Phrases
1-All our souls are written in our eyes.
2-A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.
3-I may not climb to great heights, but I climb alone.
4-Take them and turn my fantasies into facts.
5-A kiss is a secret that takes the lips to the ear.
6-A big nose could be an indication of a great soul.
7-My heart is always shyly hidden behind my mind. I start making stars fall from the sky, then for fear of ridicule, I stop and pick small flowers of eloquence.
8-An honest man is neither French, nor German, nor Spanish, he is a Citizen of the World, and his homeland is everywhere.
9-I have a different idea of elegance. I don't dress like a fop, but my morale is impeccable. I never appear in public with a dirty conscience, tarnished honor, frayed scruples, or unwashed. I am always immaculately clean, adorned with frankness and independence. I may not have a graceful figure, but I keep my soul erect.
10-With a clean thrust, die, pierced with steel the heart. Such was my wish. See what a contradiction: die assassinated, while crossing a sidewalk, because of a lackey and a piece of wood.
11-Sing, dream, instead. To be alone, to be free. Let my eyes flash and my throat vibrate. Put my hat on backwards if I please, whip myself on a whim or make an appetizer. Work without desire for glory or fortune. Imagine that I am going to conquer the Moon. Never write anything that does not rhyme with me and say to me, modestly: ah, my little friend, that leaves, flowers and fruits are enough for you, as long as your garden is where you pick them up.
11-Give thanks to God for having granted me a soul reasonable enough not to believe everything that everyone says, since everyone can say everything. If not, I would have applied a stronger and more powerful antidote to your bile than speech.
12-The soul that loves and reveals it does not dare, with reason it conceals itself modestly. I am attracted by a star that shines in the sky; I measure its height, in my meanness I repair and, for fear of ridicule, I stop to catch a humble flower.
13-What is a kiss?
We were talking about a kiss.
The word is sweet.
Actually, what does a kiss express?
A close oath
A sealed promise
A love that wants to be confirmed
An invisible accent on the verb love
A secret that confuses the mouth with the ears
An infinite moment, a murmur of bees
A very sweet taste, a communion
A new way of opening the heart
From circumcise the edge of the lips
Until reaching the soul.
14-For biting the profile of your purple lips
and seek in your chest the warm refuge
of my saddest nights, the patient look
that illuminates the shadows of my tired eyes.
For drinking in the sea of your pink thighs,
and sending you a thousand letters consecutively
without knowing who that surprising love is that
invites you to taste forbidden pleasures.
For having you with me. For playing with the wind
that collects the kisses that you rejected that time.
Because this mutual wear and tear is not in vain
of the years lost after that oath:
the promise to be for you the courtier
who wrote these verses. For you, I am Cyrano.
15-When I speak, your soul finds in each of my words that truth that it gropes for.
16-I think the Moon is a world like this, and the Earth is its moon.
17-Most men only judge by their senses and are persuaded by what they see.
18-The angel had told me in my dream that if I wanted to acquire the perfect knowledge that I wanted, I would have to go to the Moon. There he would find the paradise of Adam and the Tree of Knowledge.
19-A man contains everything that is needed to make a tree. Similarly, a tree contains everything that is needed to make a man. So, finally, all things are found in all things, but we need a Prometheus to distill them.
20-The present loses its value when it is given without the choice of the person who receives it.