La souplesse

In the time that it takes

to break in a pair of jeans,

it's virtually certain that

the sweater one planned for

it will portray its limits.

To see this as a betrayal of

the sweater, is paranoiac.

To see a natural fit as in-

decent, is dogmatic. I do

not think the French will

lose their genius for sup-
pleness, their discipline.

  If like so many others

  I had been a miscreant,

  I should be happy as

  they are!

François Marie Arouet

  Voltaire

Zadig, ou la destinée

1747

Ben Ray Redman

  editor and translator

The Portable Voltaire

Viking Penguin, 1949©

Louis Gaillot