Author : Sébastien Authemayou

"True generosity towards the future lies in giving everything to the present."

Albert Camus, *The Rebel* (L’Homme révolté), Gallimard, 1951.

Can culture save the world? What place does it hold in our lives and in our societies?

Here, then, is a musical journey spanning twenty chapters and six years of observations—not only on cultural current events but on the wider world and our societies. It is an initiatory pilgrimage in search of a star to guide us with its celestial light as we pursue happiness. More than five hundred years ago, the brilliant Leonardo da Vinci observed that "he who fixes his gaze upon a star does not change his mind," while also acknowledging humanity’s evident propensity for folly and the importance of dedicating oneself to a noble quest: learning to seek out beauty—and beauty alone—in order to move forward.

To what end? To attempt to balance the sensible world and the intelligible world in the truest Platonic sense; to draw from our literary heritage the strength to nourish ourselves, to awaken, and to pass things on...

Thus, as I embarked on this ambitious quest—accompanied, step by step and word by word—music naturally emerged as the common thread connecting these writings, which flowed from a pen that was becoming increasingly active. Each chapter weaves a close bond with a piece of music—a composition, a memory, or a personal favorite—all accessible via the QR codes scattered throughout the text. Even though each chapter is rooted in a distinct and powerful context—akin to a photographic image inseparable from the era in which it was written—every piece embodies the undeniable timelessness of its subject matter. This occurs within the unified whole of the essay itself, structured as a multifaceted yet ordered cycle of thought where each page resonates with the one preceding it.

Thus, to catch a glimpse of this philosophical and spiritual El Dorado, must we not first analyze the intrinsic mechanisms, foibles, and excesses of *Sapiens*—a being who, for his part, is still far from distinguishing himself through discernment?