The French Academy
"The spirit is at the mercy of the body; like blind people at the mercy of their seeing aides. The body touches and does all; begins and achieves all. It is from the body that our true lights emanate, and even our only lights that are our needs and appetites, by means of which we have a sort of 'remote' and shallow perception of the condition of our intimate structure. 'Remote' and 'shallow' – aren't these the characteristics of visual sensation? That is why I used the word: light."
by Paul Valéry
