Talk:Georges Clemenceau

sweet guy

Brazil is a country of the future . . .

I believe this quote is actually by Stefan Zweig, the Austrian philosopher who moved to Brazil in 1937 (?).—This unsigned comment is by Merlinjim (talk • contribs) .

I am not sure if Zweig is the original person who said it, but he may have used this phrase actually as a title of his book Google result, Brasilien. Ein Land der Zukunft. We need a further research, perhaps. --Aphaia 20:57, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

---

I Just sourced what quotes I could, added a few, and removed these:

• Brazil is a country of the future, and always will be.

This seems to be a Brazilian proverb that I have not elsewhere found to be associated with Clemenceau, though it might possibly be derived from the title of the above mentioned book.

• Ah, to be ten years younger!
  • Sitting on a park bench on his 80th birthday, said to a friend on seeing an attractive young woman walk by.

This seems a plausible anecdote, but as yet I have found no mention relating it specifically to Clemenceau other than the unsourced quote that had been here. ~ Kalki 21:24, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

I did eventually find citations for a published version of a similar expression "Oh, to be seventy again!" and have now included this in the article. ~ Kalki 07:04, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

From barbarism to decadence

I've searched Google Books with the following results:

English

• http://books.google.com/books?id=_RM5AAAAMAAJ

"A foreign wit has been quoted as saying that America is the only nation that has passed from barbarism to decadence without ever passing through civilization." (1936)

• http://books.google.com/books?id=7Q4SAAAAMAAJ

"A French journalist said the other day that 'Americans are the only people who have passed directly from barbarism to decadence without knowing civilization.' " (1933)

• http://books.google.com/books?id=_FTrAAAAMAAJ

"A witty Frenchman says we are the only nation that went from barbarism to decadence without passing through civilization. He is the only one of whom I know who gives us credit for having passed beyond a state of barbarism." (1932)

French

Searching for la barbarie à la décadence I can't find a French source before Maurice Sachs (Chronique joyeuse et scandaleuse, 1948) who hesitatingly attributes it to André Siegfried. http://books.google.com/books?id=msFLAAAAMAAJ Renée Pierre-Gosset (L'Amérique aux Américains, 1953) says Bernard Shaw. Claude Lévi-Strauss (Tristes tropiques, 1955) attributes it to Winston Churchill.

So far the evidence suggests it dates from just after 1930 and is an anonymous English gibe based on a Mirabeau quotation:

Delà naitroit comment le cercle de la barbarie à la décadence par la civilisation & la richesse, peut être repris par un Ministre habile & attentif & la machine remontée avant d'être à sa fin. (From L'ami des hommes, ou Traité de la population, part 2 chapter 8)

Xanthoxyl 06:02, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

---

Okay, I had just posted that when I found this: http://books.google.com/books?id=oBw-AAAAcAAJ

Pierre et Catherine remplissent de leur nom les annales de la Russie pendant le cours de ces deux siècles [...] il fit passer son pays sans transition de la barbarie à la décadence, de l'enfance à la caducité. La civilisation....

That's Hippolyte Roux-Ferrand writing before 1847 about Russia (Histoire des progrès de la civilisation en Europe depuis l'ère chrétienne jusqu'au XIXe siècle, Volume 6, chapter 3). And here (Revue britannique, Volume 4, 1887) http://books.google.com/books?id=7cYXAQAAIAAJ it is applied to Spain. Xanthoxyl 06:09, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

'A patriot loves his country, a nationalist hates everyone else's'

Stephen Fry quoted Clemenceau as originating the saying: "A patriot is someone who loves his country, a nationalist patriot is someone who hates everyone else's.". In some other places I've found this quoted as being something Samuel Johnson said. It appears on neither of their pages here. Despite being widely "quoted" I've been able to find no corroboration of its source. Can anyone help? Did Clemenceau originate it or, if not, does anyone know who did? Hopefully, LookingGlass (talk) 20:29, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

It seems to me that Fry named the wrong guy. I found this quotation being said by Charles de Gaulle:

"Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."

Though, I find Fry's translation much closer to the (supposed) original than that of wikiquote.

"Le patriotisme, c'est aimer son pays. Le nationalisme, c'est détester celui des autres." 1

--Justus Brücke (talk) 20:27, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Justus, and Fry's quote is FAR closer to the original. Suggest you go and make the change (if you haven't already done so) best LookingGlass (talk) 16:51, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Unsourced

• The graveyards are full of indispensable men.
  • Sometimes attributed to Charles de Gaulle.

• Civil servants make the best husbands: when they get home, they are well rested and they have already read the newspaper.