Camus, Scott, Camus, Sales. Yet another misquote.

Today I read this quote:

"Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken."

Attributed to, among all, Albert Camus. I had to chuckle at this.

After a quick search, it appears this quote appeared in an episode of One Tree Hill, in this form:

"Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken. But I wonder if there’s no breaking then there’s no healing, and if there’s no healing then there’s no learning. And if there’s no learning then there’s no struggle. But the struggle is a part of life. So must all hearts be broken?"

I dug deeper and found the French version:

"Heureux les coeurs qui peuvent plier car ils ne seront jamais brisés. Sont-ils si heureux que ça. Un coeur qui ne se brise pas ne peut pas guérir si on ne connait ni l'épreuve ni la guérisson on n'apprend rien et si l'on n'apprend rien on ne change pas. Mais les épreuves et les changements font partie de la vie. Tous les coeurs devraient-ils être brisés ?" 

It's funny how the Goodreads website attributes the French version to Albert Camus, but the English version first to Camus, but also to One Tree Hill (in the tags). Alternatively, I found many French websites referencing the series and quote together, and not linking it to Camus. There's more to it, but let me digress for a minute.

I know how many of you just don't care about the provenance of quote as long as it inspires and uplifts you. I've had this debate repeatedly here on this blog, during my literature classes at university and just about everywhere where books are involved. I get the 'being inspired' part, I really do. Otherwise quotes wouldn't be my post frequently used tag on the blog. But come on, you have to be intellectually honest, and whenever possible check who actually wrote the quote. Imagine you are a writer, and you come up with such a beautiful text that you share it with people. Then someone extracts a passage which they find absolutely amazing and share it with more people. You're happy, right? Your text and its message spread out like so many beautiful dandelion seeds in the summer breeze. Yet over time your quote gets misattributed to somebody more famous, because you're not famous, you're not even known. You'd be mad, and I'd say rightly so.

Back to our murky business. The person who came up with this is actually known, so please stop attributing it to Camus. He never wrote this and -- I could debate with specialists -- he never would have. It strikes me as too overtly biblical in tone, the which Camus wouldn't have done. This website probably nailed the source -- and the reason for the confusion -- for the quote. You can click on the link, but here's the entry:

"Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken."

Saint Francis de Sales.

Source/Notes: Variant translation: "Blessed are the hearts which bend, they never break." - The Beauties of Saint Francis de Sales, selected and translated from the writings of John Peter Camus (1829), p. 49. This quote is sometimes misattributed to Albert Camus.

I took the liberty to underline the names. We can see easily figure out why, after so many years, possible careless handling of names and a sloppy memory, the two people have been confused, as one fell into oblivion and the other remained up there in the pantheon of writers. And in our case it's even worse as John Peter Camus was only the translator, the real writer was Saint Francis de Sales (hence the biblical overtones). So it isn't just one person who fell into oblivion, but two.

I'll finish this rather long post (for what it's worth) by saying that of course Albert Camus isn't reaping any benefit from this. No pecuniary recompense is going to the Camus estate. My point is that more diversity in literature is always welcome, because people have a tendency to put literature into a small box in which only a handful of writers gave us a handful of memorable quotes and the rest is easily forgettable. As if, by the same token, a quote was more inspiring because Shakespeare or Camus had written than if it were a complete stranger. That's nonsense. There's power in all of us to say something true, timeless, unforgettable. Instagram and Reddit are rife with great, and as yet anonymous, talents. So look up, look around, and look sharp.

 

Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”
―Saint Francis de Sales
Read more at https://izquotes.com/author/saint-francis-de-sales

Variant translation: "Blessed are the hearts which bend, they never break" - The beauties of st. Francis de Sales, selected and translated from the writings of John Peter Camus (1829), p. 49. This quote is sometimes misattributed to Albert Camus.
Read more at https://izquotes.com/author/saint-francis-de-sales

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”
―Saint Francis de Sales

Source/Notes:
Variant translation: "Blessed are the hearts which bend, they never break" - The beauties of st. Francis de Sales, selected and translated from the writings of John Peter Camus (1829), p. 49. This quote is sometimes misattributed to Albert Camus.

Read more at https://izquotes.com/author/saint-francis-de-sales

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”
―Saint Francis de Sales

Source/Notes:
Variant translation: "Blessed are the hearts which bend, they never break" - The beauties of st. Francis de Sales, selected and translated from the writings of John Peter Camus (1829), p. 49. This quote is sometimes misattributed to Albert Camus.

Read more at https://izquotes.com/author/saint-francis-de-sales

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.”
―Saint Francis de Sales

Source/Notes:
Variant translation: "Blessed are the hearts which bend, they never break" - The beauties of st. Francis de Sales, selected and translated from the writings of John Peter Camus (1829), p. 49. This quote is sometimes misattributed to Albert Camus.

Read more at https://izquotes.com/author/saint-francis-de-sales