The Personal is Political. The Political is Personal.

 
in praise of debt

from Urquhart's Rabelais' Third Book:

Be still indebted to somebody or other, that there may be somebody always to pray for you, that the giver of all good things may grant unto you a blessed, long, and prosperous life; fearing, if fortune should deal crossly with you, that it might be his chance to come short of being paid by you . . .

You can hardly imagine how glad I am, when every morning I perceive myself environed and surrounded with brigades of creditors -- humble, fawning, and full of their reverences. . . .

These are my flatterers, my soothers, my clawbacks, my smoothers, my parasites, my saluters, my givers of good-morrows, and perpetual orators.

[source here]

[Ce sont mes candidatz, mes parasites, mes salüeurs, mes diseurs de bons jours, mes orateurs perpetuelz. (source here)]

The rest of Rabelais' surrounding chapters is similarly hilarious.

Above = found through researching a passing reference in Romain Menini article here.

posted by TiR at 7:01 AM