This is just as true today. One day this little island will astonish Europe,' is what JJ Rousseau said of the place in his Contrat Social in 1762. It is astonishing - daily, both physically and socially. Stop on your way and meet Niolans, who will tell you of the many legends of the region and talk about how they have preserved their way of life through all the centuries of invasion and so-called modernisation, let alone the 23 June 1774 massacre by French forces, commemorated each year at the monastry of Calacuccia. Corsica is rich beyond wealth, though not a place of high output or consumption.
Human values are what people measure, rather than the value of things.
While Corsica has seldom been a sovereign state, it is a country that has never been subjugated. Its story is difficult to tell. Corsica is easy to enjoy on a short holiday, but deep appreciation is more hazardous. Travel is counted in time, not in distance. It is said that the Greeks called the island Kalliste and for good reason.