He doesn't speak, the newborn? Why his entire being shouts out, Don't touch me! Don't touch me! And yet at the same time, imploringly, begging, Don't leave me! Don't leave me! This is birth. This is the torture, the Calvary.
– Frederick Leboyer
These feet which kick furiously, legs which bend in to protect a tender stomach. This flesh which is but a mass of spasms, starts and shakes.
– Frederick Leboyer
These hands which stretch out, implore, beg, then rise to the head in a gesture of calamity.
– Frederick Leboyer
This howling mouth, this head which rolls back and tries to escape.
– Frederick Leboyer
This tragic brow, these closed eyes, eyebrows raised and knotted.
– Frederick Leboyer
Yes, hell exists. It is not a fairy tale. One indeed burns there. This hell is not at the end of life. It is here. At the beginning. Hell is what the infant must experience before he gets to us.