Questo articolo è disponibile anche in:
Italiano
1 min lettura - read
Voltaire used to drink 40 cups of coffee a day.
And it seems that in response to those who contested the abuse he declared: “I drink 40 coffees a day to be well awake and think about how to keep tyrants and imbeciles at bay” then adding “yes, it is a remarkably slow poison. I have been drinking it every day for more than seventy years and, so far, I have never experienced its sad effects on my health … “
Given the current trend … was he right?
Considering also the fact that his coffees were a kind of blend with chocolate … I miss a lot of them …
Hi I'm Claudia and this is KCDC.
Well, 40 cups a day seems to me to be a bit too much – but four are alright. I drink them daily and thrive on them.
Absolutely!
Forty sounds like a far-fetched number, but four could definitely be the perfect new number.
I wonder how Voltaire survived, if he really drank 40 cups a day. Maybe he just uses hyperbole in his writing?
ah ah ah!
Maybe!! Hyperbole is a minimum side effect if we consider the amount of coffee!
We could consider his own statement as a hyperbolic provocation 🙂
I also wonder how he did it …
Maybe he just wanted to boast?
You know, like boys want to show off, “Mine is the biggest”, “I can spit the farthest”, and so on.
ah ah ah!!
May be!
Sure the ones you have mentioned are typical male features 🙂
Well said!
Yes! Even great men and famous writers have a little boy hidden deep inside of them.
Olivia this consideration of yours makes me smile because in fact I had never thought about this aspect, indeed I always feel a certain awe towards famous writers, instead it is very nice to consider the human and also playful side.
Even so-called “great” writers can have the weirdest habits.
Exactly.
For example, my husband and I often smile thinking about how many times we have heard in many different places about cafes that became famous because Hemingway used to go there …
Yes, or the Pushkin café in Moscow. The famous writer might not even have been there, since it probably did not exist yet, during his lifetimes.
But giving a café the name of a famous writer certainly helps to draw in customers. It is a marketing decision.
So here is the explanation for Hemingway’s ubiquity in all those cafes!
Coming back to the subject of Voltaire and his possible bragging, I now remember that Empress Catherine the Great of Russia adored Voltaire. She invited him to her court, where he stayed for a long time.
It seems that she liked bragging men. She also liked Prince Potemkin who boasted that he built Crimean villages for her, when in reality he built only cardboard facades.
I think she knew that – but she liked him anyway.
Ah THANK YOU Olivia!!
This is an absolutely interesting anecdote!
I tried to look for something to learn more and I found this book about an exchange of letters between Voltaire and Catherine of Russia and I’m very curious: isn’t it fantastic!?
Yes, it is fantastic, Claudia. Catherine II was an educated woman, she improved her knowledge constantly by learning, reading, writing.
She was fluent in her native German language, as well as in Russian and French.
She was Voltaire’s intellectual friend and profited from his erudition.
Thanks Olivia!
I realize that Catherine of Russia is certainly an interesting character that I have never explored.
In terms of language skills like you: German, Russian and French, then you also know English!!
Yes, that’s it! German, French, English and Russian – I learned them in this chronological order. Now I can use them all.
And this is quite extraordinary Olivia! Four languages!! Chapeau.
Yes, but yesterday I had a bitter setback in my Russian class at the language school in Moscow. The task was to listen on video to a dialogue between two people talking about a theatre performance. The guy told a woman that he had not been to the “theatre for a hundred years”, and I did not understand this idiomatic expression.
Then he said that he did not know whether he had seen a comedy or a musical. Again I did not understand because I missed out on the words “to li”, which is needed to form an indirect question.
Afterwords he talked about the “lying press”. Again I misunderstood a few passages. And so forth, and so on.
All in all, he spoke very fast. I am not used to that.
Oy vey! At the end I was really depressed.
You don’t have to be depressed Olivia!
It is certainly not easy to learn Russian in general, but the idioms, and the way of speaking quickly and in symbols or idioms is really something that can only be achieved with experience.
And yesterday it was for you!
Look at the glass half full! In one go you have learned three particular idioms!
The way I see it REALLY CONGRATULATIONS!
Thank you for comforting me, Claudia.
It was a sort of “reality check”. I thought I understood a lot better than I really do. I understand news speakers on TV because they are trained in rhetoric (and so am I). They speak slowly, clearly, accentuate and pronounce correctly. They do not use slang or dialects. I cannot expect that simple people in the streets will do that – or can I?
The problem is that I do not speak to people in the street. This was my snobbish mother’s old adage, “Child, we do not speak to unknown people in the streets! Never ever!”
🙂 <3
however there can always be a first time!
Whenever possible, I really enjoy chatting with people.
I don’t, I am an introvert. I do not chat with people at all, if I do not know them. I do not even say a single word, especially not in the street.
It takes a long time for me to trust people, I need to get to know them really well, before I talk.
Of course, at the language school, it is a different thing. I like my teacher Andrei, he is gentle, kind and patient. When he saw my desasperation, he asked: “What can I do for you?” I told him he could do nothing, it was for me to do more, to talk more and listen more to Russian people speaking, not only the well-trained TV speakers.
So it is – this is my task now to jump over my own shadow.
I would say it is a great goal!
Congratulations Olivia!
Maybe the fact that I grew up in a small village made it easier for me to interact with people, even though I am shy, extremely shy as a child.
But I trust less and less, in general as well.
No, you’re right, you can’t expect people to talk the same way, but you go step by step and it’s already remarkable to be able to understand everything a speaker says, which you know how to do! So you have really arrived at the last step. Maybe a radio could have a less “didactic” language?
No! I am glad that the Russian TV speakers have a “didactic” language, as you call it. They are well trained (mostly), at least those on the main news, like Vladimir Solovyov and Dimitry Kiselyov. I listen to these two, because they are the brains of Russian TV, they are educated and pleasant to watch and listen to.
There is all kinds of rubbish on Russian TV, as on TV worldwide, dumb shows, people blabbing stupid stuff or mumbling into their beards. I stay away from these shows.
You’re right Olivia.
I also can’t watch TV anymore except for some rare exceptions or to watch movies.
Finding a non-irritating transmission is a mission impossible now.
True! Finding a non-irritating transmission is as rare as finding a pearl on the street.
I generally do not watch TV. I watch everything I like on youtube, on the Internet.
You’re right: luckily YouTube and the internet give the opportunity to discover and learn many important and interesting things.
Yes, but unfortunately youtube and google censure lots of publications. They are US institutions, they will suppress a lot from Russia and China.
To find Russian publications, you need the search machine Yandex, which a lot of people do not use because they do not read Russian, they do not know the Cyrillic alphabet.
For example, “Vesti nedeli” (news of the week) by Dmitry Kiselyov used to be acessible on youtube. Due to sanctions, it is blocked now. If I want to watch these news, I have to go through “smotrim” on the Internet.
This is “democracy” and “freedom”, western style, Claudia. Haven’t you noticed yet?
By the way, The Duran has a site which is hidden by google. You can access it here:
https://theduran.com/author/olivia-kroth/
Yes Olivia, I know that sanctions and exclusions are underway and I am sorry because those who pay the highest price are ordinary people, who have nothing to do with geopolitics.
I am very sorry that all your work no longer results from research.
Here we have a saying: “justice is equal for everyone, but for some it is more equal.”
Well, here in Russia I can still research. The Russian sites are not blocked in Russia. All my articles still stem from research. I get my information on the internet, as usual.
And I watch “Vesti Nedeli” on Russian TV now, not on the Internet, no problem.
I find more freedom in Russia than in Europe, and I am less pestered by people here.
This is a very important testimony, especially considering your experience and your international knowledge.
Exactly, Claudia. It is an important testimony, and it puts things in perspective.
And thank you very much for the point of view you offer!
And can you see everything from any source?
Well, no!
Here in Moscow I can watch all the Russian TV channels, I can read the “allowed” news media on the Internet, others have been blocked because they are being labeled as hostile “foreign aigents”. Furthermore, I cannot read Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, they have been blocked and Zuckerberg (owner of Meta, Facebook, Instagram) is persona non grata in Russia for his lifetime.
In France, I can read all the European news media but not the Russian news media on Internet – all blocked, hostile “foreign agents” vice versa. I cannot read the Russian President’s news site or watch “Vesti Nedeli”, all are blocked in France.
So I do the Russian part of my research in Russia, the other part of my research in France.
The world is divided into black and white, good and bad – as we all know.
This is all sad.
Instead of evolving and becoming better we regress as if previous history never existed and taught us NOTHING. And I’m sorry for all the inconvenience of having to do your research halfway.
I am getting adjusted to it, Claudia. I always find ways to do what I want to do, in the end.
Have I already told you are a great Woman?!
Your compliment makes me smile. I really do not feel like a “great woman” – but if you say so, you must be right, Claudia. Who am I to contradict you? LOL!
Olivia you can contradict me whenever you want, because your experience and your wisdom are far superior to mine, but in this case I’m right! 🙂 <3
Twenty years more of experience and wisdom ….
So precious!!
So you live in Russia, at present.
Yes, I am here in Moscow for my language studies. I will stay for three months, then return shortly to France, in August, to relax a bit, then back to Moscow for more language studies.
I am living partly in the South of France, where I have rented a small house, and partly in Moscow, where I stay at the hotel.
I love both countries, Russia and France. Therefore I am sad about the current state of affairs. And so are many French people I have spoken to, as well as some Russians I have spoken to. This is not our choice. We need to go along, although we would much rather keep good relations with each other.
I like to speak French and Russian, too. I will continue to do so, no matter what happens. Basta!
THANKS Olivia !! These words of yours are really important, they do you honor and contain what should be the true soul of all.
I particularly like how you used the word BASTA for your conclusion!
A very strong hug
Thank you for your encouragement and support, Claudia. A very strong hug for you too.
.
Ah well! So I wish you a good study and then after all your efforts a nice holiday period awaits you. I remember you told me about the south of France. I especially fell in love with the Camargue.
In the south of France, I live close to Camargue, in the area of Nimes, an old city founded by the ancient Romans. They still have the Roman arena, and the “porte Auguste”, the portal of Emperor Augustus.
Gorgeous!
I have also been to Provence, Nimes, Arles and other places that I liked very much.
The south of France is poetic and one of my favorite places in the world.
Mine too, Claudia. the South of France is something special.
We were talking about daisies and roses … the South of France is Lavender, am I wrong?
Yes, there are wonderful lavender fields, but they are not in my departement Gard, they are cultivated in Provence. Here, we have olive tree plantations, vineyards, and in the gardens plenty of roses. Daisies are not so common, I suppose it is too hot for them.
Oh the olive trees! They are long-lived and significant trees.
And the vineyards!
In this case you reminded me of the film French Kiss, I remember you told me that you don’t like watching movies, this one is set in France, in Paris but then in the south and in a dream vineyard.
In my youth, I was a “kino-maniac”. Strangely enough, I stopped watching films about ten years ago. Tastes change with time, I suppose.
You’re right, and it’s nice that tastes change.
But kino-maniac is interesting! German cinema?
This was during my student times at the University of Heidelberg. I went nearly every day to a cinema called “Fauler Pelz” (lazy person) to watch movies from France, Italy, Germany, all sorts of movies. I remember that my favourites were those of Roman Polanski.
Uh the name is particularly significant!
The Roman Polanski movie I liked is Pirates because it made me laugh!
My favourite Polanski movie was about a schizophrenic woman played by Catherine Deneuve but I forgot the title.
Could it be Repulsion?
It could be, Claudia. I do not recall the title at all.
Unfortunately, every time I think of Roman Polanski I am reminded of the terrible story that led to the killing of Sharon Tate.
That was a tragedy. I also recall it. There was a lot of press about it.
It is also mentioned in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino.