A Chambermaid’s Diary — Preface

By Octave Mirbeau (1900)

Entry 5913

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Untitled Anarchism A Chambermaid’s Diary Preface

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(1848 - 1917)

Anarchist Novelist, Playwright, Journalist, and Pamphleteer from France

: By 1890 his political commitments were clearer: he showed a clear preference for the anarchist left, and became friends with Jean Grave and Camille Pissarro. He wrote at length on Impressionism, believing it to be the beginning of a cultural revolution in France. (From: Sharif Gemie Bio.)
• "...each turn of the government machinery grinds the tumbling, gasping flesh of the poor..." (From: "Ravachol," by by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau.)
• "Capitalism is insatiable, and the wage system compounds the evils of ancient slavery. The shops are packed full of clothing, and there are those who go about completely naked; the indifferent rich are puking up food, while others perish from hunger in their doorways. No cry is heeded: whenever a single, louder complaint penetrates the din of sad murmurs, the Lebels is loaded and the troops are mobilized." (From: "Ravachol," by by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau.)
• "I am horrified by the bloodshed, the ruins, and the death; I love life, and all life is sacred to me. This is why I'm going to ask for the anarchist ideal which no form of government can create: love, beauty, and peace between men. Ravachol [the Anarchist bombthrower] doesn't frighten me. He is as transient as the terror he inspires. He is the thunder clap that is followed by the glory of the sun and the calm sky." (From: "Ravachol," by by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau.)


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Preface

The book that I publish under this title, “A Chambermaid’s Diary,” was really written by Mlle. Célestine R———, chambermaid. When I was asked to revise the manuscript, to correct it, and to rewrite some parts of it, I refused at first, thinking, not without reason, that, just as it was, in all its disorder, this diary had a certain originality, a special savor, and that I could only render it commonplace by putting into it anything of myself. But Mlle. Célestine R——— was very pretty. She insisted. I finally yielded, for, after all, I am a man.

I confess that I was wrong. In doing this work which she asked of me,—that is, in adding here and there some accents to this book,—I am very much afraid that I have impaired its somewhat corrosive grace, diminished its sad power, and, above all, substituted simple literature for the emotion and life which these pages contained.

I say this to answer in advance the objections which certain grave and learned, and how noble, critics will not fail to raise.

O. M.

From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org

(1848 - 1917)

Anarchist Novelist, Playwright, Journalist, and Pamphleteer from France

: By 1890 his political commitments were clearer: he showed a clear preference for the anarchist left, and became friends with Jean Grave and Camille Pissarro. He wrote at length on Impressionism, believing it to be the beginning of a cultural revolution in France. (From: Sharif Gemie Bio.)
• "The patience of the downtrodden and the dispossessed has lasted long enough. They want to live, they want to enjoy, they want their share of all the happiness and sunshine." (From: "Ravachol," by by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau.)
• "...each turn of the government machinery grinds the tumbling, gasping flesh of the poor..." (From: "Ravachol," by by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau.)
• "Capitalism is insatiable, and the wage system compounds the evils of ancient slavery. The shops are packed full of clothing, and there are those who go about completely naked; the indifferent rich are puking up food, while others perish from hunger in their doorways. No cry is heeded: whenever a single, louder complaint penetrates the din of sad murmurs, the Lebels is loaded and the troops are mobilized." (From: "Ravachol," by by Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau.)

(1854 - 1939)

American Father of Individualist Anarchism

: An individualist Anarchist, Tucker was a person of intellect rather than of action, focusing on the development of his ideas and on the publication of books and journals, especially the journal Liberty: Not the Daughter but the Mother of Order... (From: Anarchy Archives.)
• "The evil to which this [tariff] monopoly gives rise might more properly be called misusury than usury, because it compels labor to pay, not exactly for the use of capital, but rather for the misuse of capital." (From: "State Socialism and Anarchism," by Benjamin R. Tu....)
• "But although, viewing the divine hierarchy as a contradiction of Anarchy, they do not believe in it, the Anarchists none the less firmly believe in the liberty to believe in it. Any denial of religious freedom they squarely oppose." (From: "State Socialism and Anarchism," by Benjamin R. Tu....)
• "If the individual has a right to govern himself, all external government is tyranny. Hence the necessity of abolishing the State." (From: "State Socialism and Anarchism," by Benjamin R. Tu....)

Chronology

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An icon of a book resting on its back.
1900
Preface — Publication.

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January 9, 2021; 5:07:24 PM (UTC)
Added to http://revoltlib.com.

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January 17, 2022; 3:20:49 PM (UTC)
Updated on http://revoltlib.com.

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