Nathanaël—let the importance be in your gaze, not in the thing you look at.
Genuine
Yes. In Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre I, section I, said by the lyrical narrator. These are the character’s words, not a statement in Gide’s own voice.
Found word for word by program in the French original.
The English is our own translation, not yet reviewed: there is no public-domain translation of this text in our sources.
Checked against André Gide, Les Nourritures terrestres, deuxième édition (Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1897), French text transcribed on Wikisource, Livre I, section I, in a full-text transcription.
- Work
- Fruits of the Earth (Les Nourritures terrestres), 1897
- Where
- Livre I, section I
- Found at
- Paragraph 22 of the French text
- Translation
- Our own, not yet reviewed (no public-domain translation in our sources)
- Source
- André Gide, Les Nourritures terrestres, deuxième édition (Paris: Société du Mercure de France, 1897), French text transcribed on Wikisource, Livre I, section I
- Checked
- In a full-text transcription
Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check
On the page
Nathanaël, tu regarderas tout en passant, et tu ne t’arrêteras nulle part. Dis-toi bien que Dieu seul n’est pas provisoire.
Nathanaël — que l’importance soit dans ton regard, non dans la chose regardée.1
Tout ce que tu gardes en toi de connaissances distinctes, restera distinct de toi jusques à la consommation des siècles. Pourquoi y attaches-tu tant de prix ?
Il y a profit aux désirs, et profit au rassasiement des désirs — parce qu’ils en sont augmentés. […]
Nathanaël—let the importance be in your gaze, not in the thing you look at.
The scene
The narrator tells Nathanaël not to seek God anywhere except everywhere and to keep passing through things without stopping at any one of them. The sentence turns attention toward the manner of looking; the next reflections distinguish stored knowledge from lived experience and desire from possession. It belongs to the book’s instruction in fervent attention.
What it means
The intensity of attention matters more than an object’s prestige or its supposed inherent interest.
Often misread
Not a neutral proposition that objects have no value apart from us. In the same book, Livre II also presses the opposite direction: each thing matters for itself, and the observer should cease making himself more important than what he sees. These lyrical instructions should not be flattened into a single philosophical system.
Topics
Related quotes
- If what you eat does not make you drunk, it is because you were not hungry enough.
- Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. (paraphrase) Epictetus
- Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. (not found) Mahatma Gandhi
- The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them. (not found) Mark Twain
- Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.
Sources
Cite it
André Gide, Fruits of the Earth (1897), Livre I, section I, our own translation. Spoken by the lyrical narrator. Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/let-the-importance-be-in-your-gaze/ (31 October 2026).
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Checked by people
People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.
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