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About this quote

What does it mean?
Paris represents a paradox where its identity as a symbol of freedom coexists with a perceived immutability.
In plain terms
People think Paris never changes even though it is a place of liberty.
What can you take from it?
Cultural identity can remain stable even when political freedom evolves.

Where it applies

  • travel writing
  • urban studies
  • historical analysis

Putting it to work

  • analyze city branding
  • compare historical eras

Questions to consider

  • What makes a city feel timeless?
  • Does freedom require change?

Another view

The quote ignores physical changes that may have occurred during the absence.

More from Marguerite Duras

  1. The best way to fill time is to waste it.

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  2. I see journalists as the manual workers, the laborers of the word. Journalism can only be literature when it is passionate.

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  3. It was the men I deceived the most that I loved the most.

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