Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand, letter to Voltaire, 1759
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All conditions and all circumstances seem equally unfortunate to me, from the angel to the oyster. The grievous thing is to be born.

— Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand on Antinatalism

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "All conditions and all circumstances seem equally unfortunate to me, from the angel to the oyster. The grievous thing is to be born." in the context of "Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand, letter to Voltaire, 1759" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Antinatalism" (V) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand

Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, marquise du Deffand (1697 – September 23, 1780) was a French hostess and patron of the arts.