Women make us poets; children, philosophers?

Malcolm de Chazal was a Mauritius writer who wrote in French. He flew under the radar until becoming popular in the late 1940s. It's hard to get English translations of his work. In this Memo, read 9 of his most insightful aphorisms - collected from obscure journal articles 👇

On God: "The word God is the best abridgement." Based on what holy book you're reading and who you're interacting with, God is a benefactor, a punisher, an experimenter, the ultimate answer, the ultimate question. All of humanity's hopes are abridged in the word God.

Women vs children: "Women make us poets; children, philosophers." Romance makes man lyrical, while the crushing pressure to be a good parent makes us look deeply into questions of morality. The right and wrong become personal when children get involved.

An aphorism open to interpretation: "I am the owner of my shoulders, the tenant of my hips." One possible interpretation is that hips - and everything in that region, including genitals - follow a logic of their own, and conscious rationality is but a guest there.

Keep bodies supple and healthy to avoid the fate of a young mind in an old body: "No worse calamity than to feel our bodies ageing faster than our minds. A torment comparable to the snail's anguish realizing it is the prisoner of its shell."

Love is a religious feeling: "Eve was for Adam the first form of religion; Adam, for Eve, the first face of God. It was only after the Fall that Adam and Eve sought God elsewhere than in their own image. Love deifies."

There's no object in the universe that's a perfect composite of all virtues: "If the sun were modest it would not be the sun." Certain virtues come tied at the hips with certain vices.

Speed hides substance: "The diamond scintillates less brilliantly when the fingers move rapidly. Glossy leaves throw off less light in a high wind than under the calm wavering of a breeze." A thing's essence comes through more clearly in an undisturbed environment.

Man's artificial spin on nature is always more orderly than the real deal: "A candle flame is a watery jet of triangular fire. All artificial flames end in a needle point. Natural flame is a scarf furling and refurling. Wherever it interferes, man's hand geometrizes nature."

On war: "Nothing is more certain than that war promotes science and increases comforts." While controversial, this claim is backed by scholarly books like "War! What Is It Good For?" The intense competition of war forces rivals to try and out-innovate each other.