Men's lives are not progressions, as conventionally rendered in history paintings, nor are they a series of facts that may be enumerated & in their proper order understood. Rather they are a series of transformations, some immediate & shocking, some so slow as to be imperceptible, yet so complete & horrifying that at the end of his life a man may search his memory in vain for a moment of correspondence between his self in his dotage & him in his youth. Richard Flanagan
About This Quote

Albert Camus was the author of the book “The Stranger”. In this book, he makes a statement that can be interpreted as a criticism against the traditional depiction of history painting. He criticizes the way historians portray men in their lives. The implication is that, when we look at historical paintings, we see a person from a certain point in his life and a certain event that happened to him.

However, what most people don’t realize is that his life was not a progression with a clear beginning and ending point. Instead, it was a series of transformations, some immediate and shocking, others so slow as to be imperceptible yet so complete and horrifying that at the end of his life he may search his memory in vain for a single moment of correspondence between himself at his dotage and him at his youth.

Source: Goulds Book Of Fish: A Novel In Twelve Fish

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