« "In the country where 1789 it was Voltaire and Rousseau's fault, and 1940's over André Gide and Marcel Proust, no one thinks of putting "French suicide" on the back of the NRF or midnight editions. We're inquiring about his world by talking to him about books, except to follow up on Johnny's will or the latest Netflix series. The living national treasure, the sacred monster, the national engineering delegate abroad, is the one whose foot leaves a mark on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. It's Montand or Aznavour (180 million records) or, intramural, Johnny. Giving its color at the time, accompanying our joys and sorrows, making several generations vibrate in a row, is no longer in the means of the blackening of pages. The print has stopped printing. More competitive. Only good Parisian restaurateurs and notary clerks still give the "Master to the follicular". it is the showbiz and the stadium that lead the dance and concentrate the honors, networks and presidential tributes. From image to image, it is in closed circuit that we are sure to be seen and heard by populations. From French Genius, Régis Debray, Gallimard (September 2019), pp.17-18 »

« It (a civilization) can claim to be victorious when it is no longer one but civilization, that its language has become lingua franca, and its currency, the common one. »

« As homo sapiens is a mammal Plus, the Republic is Democracy Plus. More precious and more precarious. More ungrateful, more rewarding. The Republic is Freedom plus Reason. The rule of law, plus justice. Tolerance, more willpower. Democracy, shall we say, is what remains of a Republic when the Enlightenment is extinguished. »