I cannot see any clear intellectual distinction between public and private, just as I cannot see any clearer intellectual distinction between body and soul. A good metaphor for the continuity between public and private is the corridor between the private flat and the public entrance to our hotel. This corridor is neither private nor public; it is obviously only more private or public than something else. And some shadows in the corridor might allow us more privacy than elsewhere in any so-called private space.
--Dominique Memmi