"Partout où je vais je trouve qu'un poète y a été avant moi."
— Sigmund Freud
Simplified Meaning:
This quote means that no matter where someone goes or what they experience, other people—especially artists and poets—have already visited or thought deeply about those same places and experiences. Think about how travelers often take pictures of famous landmarks. When you visit those places, you usually find other tourists there taking the same photos. Similarly, poets and writers have explored emotions, nature, and life events long before we do. For example, when someone feels the joy of falling in love or the sadness of losing a loved one, these emotions have already been captured beautifully in poems and songs over the years. It shows that human experiences are universal and timeless, and writers have a special way of expressing these shared feelings. People can use this idea to find comfort in art and literature. When going through something tough, reading a poem or a book can help you feel understood and less alone. It reminds us that whatever we are going through, someone else has likely felt the same way and has found a way to articulate it beautifully.