:22:02
Saying it to a mediocre pupil
would be cruel
:22:05
I never said it to Maxime, the idler
:22:08
True, I did little,
and have no regrets
:22:11
Regret is always an illusion
:22:13
What about Stéphane?
:22:15
Stéphane... that's something
else again
:22:20
Not emotion, that's suspect;
it's hard work that impresses me
:22:25
- I know, I read your book
- So you've one reader at least, Daniel
:22:31
What upsets me, as I wrote, is that
on the pretext that it's all culture...
:22:37
...some rate a pop video alongside a
Claudel play, a Piero Della Francesca...
:22:43
...or a Ravel sonata and
Madame Amet's apple pie
:22:47
Would you prefer fresh fruit?
:22:50
No, but it's all lumped together,
pell-mell
:22:54
People can still choose
:22:57
Yes, but with everything meriting
equal attention...
:22:59
...consensus of opinion becomes
a woolly horror
:23:02
I believe in a certain mental
vigilance. Is that pompous?
:23:06
No, we're listening to
the voice of tradition
:23:09
- Severe
- But courageous
:23:10
Tradition! So I'm a reactionary
:23:14
No, you speak for an anxious élite in
a world threatened by democratic excess
:23:20
I've fought élitism all my life.
There's too much bleating today
:23:25
There's confusion, I agree
:23:28
If culture is still a privilege...
:23:30
...it isn't reserved for
quite so few
:23:33
It's worse, all these clueless
clodhoppers in the museums
:23:38
But if a clodhopper's life is changed
by a work of art, isn't that something?
:23:45
It's always been so
:23:47
I don't think so
:23:49
You almost agree
:23:52
For you, too, there's the sensitive
individual in the blind masses
:23:56
I didn't say that
:23:58
No, you said there's a natural
selection of people destined...