Daumal Quotes

“And then you grew up, went to school, and began to 'philosophize,' didn't you? We all go through the same thing. It seems that during adolescence a person's inner life is suddenly weakened, stripped of its natural courage. In his thinking he no longer dares stand face to face with reality or mystery; he begins to see them through the opinions of 'grown-ups,' through books and courses and professors. Still, a voice remains which is not completely muffled and which cries out every so often—every time its gag is loosened by an unexpected jolt in the routine. The voice cries out its great questioning of everything, but we stifle it again right away.”
― René Daumal

“I am a man?" Why not say, "I am Alphonse," or "I am a wholesaler," or "a crook," or "a mammal," or "a philosopher," or "a proud animal"?”
― René Daumal, Pataphysical Essays