Citation de PhilippeMaurice
[P. Auster décrit une dispute entre lui et sa voisine d'immeuble à Paris. Il parvient à désamorcer la dispute en utilisant un argument inattendu et hors propos, que je ne donnerai pas ici. Voici sa conclusion.]
The ploy worked just as you had hoped it would. Something about the way you said what you had said got through to her, and the battle was suddenly over. From that day forward, Madame Rubinstein ceased to be an antagonist. Whenever you saw her in the street or in the entranceway of the building, she would smile and address you with the formal propriety such encounters called for: "Bonjour Monsieur", to which you would respond, politely smiling back at her, "Bonjour Madame". Such was life in France. People pushed by force of habit, pushed for the pure pleasure of pushing, and they would go on pushing until you showed them you were willing to push back, at which point you would earn their respect.
The ploy worked just as you had hoped it would. Something about the way you said what you had said got through to her, and the battle was suddenly over. From that day forward, Madame Rubinstein ceased to be an antagonist. Whenever you saw her in the street or in the entranceway of the building, she would smile and address you with the formal propriety such encounters called for: "Bonjour Monsieur", to which you would respond, politely smiling back at her, "Bonjour Madame". Such was life in France. People pushed by force of habit, pushed for the pure pleasure of pushing, and they would go on pushing until you showed them you were willing to push back, at which point you would earn their respect.
