11 Quotes by Jacques Yonnet

Men are so isolated, prisoners of their own wretched selves, that they can be unbelievably sociable.

An event is never just what it is in itself and nothing more. It’s what goes on around it, at the same time, that makes it — potentially — a tragic situation.You have to have been exposed to this, at least once, to understand it.

In response to a tactless question he once said to me, ‘What do you expect? This lousy neighbourhood gave me the come-on. I couldn’t resist.

Silence, like madness, is only comparative.

The events I’ve chosen to record are only the most spectacular manifestations of forces that - out of fear, ignorance, everyday stupidity — are deemed ‘obscure’. But it’s now an indisputable fact that the most innocent words, the most harmless gestures in certain places and at certain times acquire an unwonted importance and weight, and have repercussions that far exceed what was intended.

I’d very much like to ‘conclude' something from this experiment. Or that it should raise a question in my mind, and a commitment to get to the bottom of the matter, to investigate, to come up with an outline of the beginning of an answer, however ill-defined or trite it might be . . . But no. I’m here to see, hear, observe - to experience. Let others explain.

The rest of the gang aren’t worth mentioning. But every one of them’s got a story.I catch myself writing ‘not worth mentioning’. According to what criteria? No reason whatever to feel superior.

Fortunately the City is vigilant. It too has its secret weapons. Since the summer it has released safety valves that form part of a wonderful mechanism, known only to itself. For the past three months we’ve noticed the most heartening appearance all over the place of eccentrics, more or less raving lunatics, cranks, and reinvigorating crackpots.

Here, in a few words, you’ve said all you need to say. People stand by each other, but they don’t talk. It’s remarkable. I’ve investigated the extraordinary history of these walls. I think I’m the only person who knows that it’s the stones, the stones alone that set the tone here.