C’est beaucoup d’être admiré mais c’est encore plus d’être aimé

“C’est beaucoup d’être admiré mais c’est encore plus d’être aimé” is the closing maxim of Jean Farel’s speech at a ceremony thrown into disarray when Michel Duroc collapses. Jean invokes the distinction between public admiration and personal love just as the audience’s attention has shifted from his words to the unseen fate of his friend, making the line an appeal whose polished finish cannot restore the room’s attention.

The Line in the Speech

Jean introduces the thought while thanking those who love him. It follows his reference to Baltasar Gracián’s The Courtier, a book journalists have often cited, ironically, as his bedside reading. He then names Proust, Gary, and Gombrowicz as his genuine literary passions before returning to Gracián to please the many colleagues present. The maxim thus closes a passage that moves between Jean’s public image, his literary tastes, and an explicit expression of gratitude.

The Ceremony Interrupted

The sentence comes after Michel has fallen in the middle of the hall. Guests cry out and recoil; Claire, Alexandre, and Jean’s three brothers go to help him, while Jean stops speaking but remains where he is. Republican Guards carry Michel into the adjoining Napoléon III salons, behind a heavy red velvet curtain. Five minutes later, firefighters arrive, but the emergency remains out of sight behind the curtain.

When the President quietly asks Jean what to do, Jean says to continue. He resumes his speech, including the claim that his career has been good but that his son is what he has achieved best. Alexandre blushes as the guests turn to look at him. The maxim about love follows, but by then the audience is preoccupied: fragments of the address reach listeners wondering whether Michel has news, or may even be dead.

Admiration, Love, and the Ending

The line’s contrast gives the speech a compact emotional argument: esteem is valuable, but affection matters more. Yet its setting unsettles that argument. Jean publicly thanks the people who love him while choosing to carry on with the ceremony as Michel is taken away for medical attention. The words do not settle the tension between his performance at the lectern and the crisis behind the curtain; the scene leaves both in view.

The guests applaud. They hear that Michel has been taken to hospital, but once the buffet opens, the news no longer interests them. The applause briefly completes Jean’s address, while the retreat to food shows how quickly the ceremony absorbs the interruption. The maxim survives as the speech’s memorable ending, set against a room where neither applause nor polished words can hold attention for long.