and the philosophy of science
. To the latter he introduced the concepts of epistemological obstacle and epistemological break
(obstacle épistémologique et rupture épistémologique). He rose to some of the most prestigious positions in the Académie française
and influenced many subsequent French philosophers, among them Michel Foucault
, Louis Althusser
, Dominique Lecourt
and Jacques Derrida
.
Bachelard was a postmaster in Bar-sur-Aube
, and then studied physics before finally becoming interested in philosophy.
To disappear into deep water or to disappear toward a far horizon, to become part of depth of infinity, such is the destiny of man that finds its image in the destiny of water.
A man is a man to the extent that he is a superman. A man should be defined by the sum of those tendencies which impel him to surpass the human condition.
True poetry is a function of awakening. It awakens us, but it must retain the memory of previous dreams.
The reflected world is the conquest of calm
If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say: the house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.
The mollusk's motto would be: one must live to build one's house, and not build one's house to live in.
Poetry is one of the destinies of speech.... One would say that the poetic image, in its newness, opens a future to language.
Ideas are refined and multiplied in the commerce of minds. In their splendor, images effect a very simple communion of souls.
A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream.