Mitterrand on Mitterrand

His own words are the best guide to an elusive man

Do not imagine that my life is filled with politics. It is not the first in my order of priorities. Politics is the servant of science and the humble interpreter of philosophy. It does not have the creative virtue of art. Estranged from the knowledge of nature and the workaday life of man, politics is like a cut flower, quickly withered. I have worked, dreamed, loafed, learned to love things and beings. Nothing speaks to me better of spirit and matter than the light...

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