Quotes from Bohumil Hrabal

He could not turn back the clock a second, nor could he ever push it forward a second, so that what happened had to happen.

All I ever learned was that, having reached that limit, another horizon would open up, and that I had to keep on driving myself, escaping toward a horizon line that was forever receding, until today, here, as I walked beside the frozen river, the entire horizon turned back and came at me from all sides and its lines passed through me, creating a central point that did not impinge on me but rather came back to my hands and feet like a boomerang.

Anyway, on I walked, thinking about what the boilerman with the university education had told me, that Eastern Europe doesn't start outside the gates of Prague, it starts at the last Empire-style railroad station somewhere in Galicia, at the outer limits of the Greek tympanum

the only thing worthy of joy is a situation where not only the individual but also society as a whole wages a constant battle for self-justification.

Because when I read, I don't really read; I pop a beautiful sentence into my mouth and suck it like a fruit drop, or I sip it like a liqueur until the thought dissolves in me like alcohol, infusing brain and heart and coursing on through the veins to the root of each blood vessel.

Nebesa nejsou humánní a život nade mnou a pode mnou a ve mnÄ› také ne.

No, the heavens are not humane, nor is any man with a head on his shoulders.

Tam jede naÅ¡e nadÄ›je. NaÅ¡e mládež. Bojovat za Svobodnou Evropu. A co vy tady? Tisknete razítka na zadek telegrafistky!

Jól van ez így, gondolta az apu, minden visszatér a maga kezdeteihez, most látom, hogy valóban megállt az idÅ' és tényleg új kor vette kezdetét, ám nekem csak a régihez van kulcsom, az új idÅ' elÅ'ttem bezárattatott, és én már nem élhetek ebben az új idÅ'ben, mert az én helyem a régiben van, és az már halott.

Udaj?, ?e wiem, ?e nic nie wiem.

Ceea ce citesc nu e nici pentru distracÅ£ie,nici pentru ca timpul s? treac? mai repede ÅŸi nici,în cele din urm?,pentru a adormi mai curând.Eu beau pentru ca,citind s? nu pot adormi niciodat?,s? m? cutremur.

y por eso todos los inquisidores del mundo queman los libros en vano, porque cuando un libro comunica algo válido, su ritmo silencioso persiste incluso mientras lo devoran las llamas, y es que un verdadero libro siempre indica algún camino nuevo que conduce más allá de sí mismo.

Não leio para me distrair, nem para fugir ao tédio, nem mesmo para adormecer melhor; eu, que vivo num país onde há quinze gerações se sabe ler e escrever, bebo para, com a leitura, nunca mais dormir, para que a leitura me dê tremuras.

Sunt educat împotriva voinÅ£ei mele,de aceea nici m?car nu ÅŸtiu care sunt ideile mele ÅŸi care sunt cele citite.

O Céu não é humano, mas talvez exista algo mais do que este Céu, a compaixão e o amor que eu há muito esquecera e apagara da memória.

All'improvviso viene un tal desiderio di fare una dormitina che la cosa migliore è di dormire subito alla prima occasione.

Îmi pot permite luxul de a fi p?r?sit,deÅŸi niciodat? nu sunt p?r?sit de fapt,sunt doar singur,ca s? pot tr?i în singur?tatea populat? de idei,pentru c? eu sunt puÅ£in l?ud?ros,un l?ud?ros al infinitului ÅŸi al eternit??ii,iar Infinitul ÅŸi Eternitatea au poate o sl?biciune pentru cei asemeni mie.

E in questa infermeria militare che io guardavo, la cosa più strana erano quegli occhi umani, gli occhi di quei soldati feriti, come se quel dolore là al fronte, quel dolore che avevano fatto a loro, come se quel dolore facesse di loro degli uomini diversi.

El cel no és pas humà, però deu haver-hi alguna cosa més que el cel, la compassió i l'amor, però jo he permès que s'esborressin de la memòria i caiguessin en l'oblit.

Un llibre veritable sempre indica algun camí nou que condueix enllà d'ell mateix.

Conèixer la pròpia deshonra i sostenir la pròpia glòria; un ésser així és un exemple en el món.

and he was off to his forest trails, his side roads, because when he was on his bicycle he could breathe like nowhere else, and the rhythmic breathing and the solitude brought him back to himself, allowed him to get a grip, no more obsessively weighing himself, no more feeling for his pulse, and one evening he came home scented with anise, he'd had a few shots of Prost?jov rye in some pub, and that evening he slept like a baby..

and when he lay down, Ethan was first to hop onto the bed, and then came the other two kittens, and after midnight my husband got up to let whichever one of those kittens wanted outside, he staggered around and let those kittens in and out, never uttered a word of complaint, never swore, because he said those kittens were like our children, and children when they're little are sacred .. even if they are good for nothing, said my husband the state prize laureate...

Often we looked at each other, my husband and I, when we both thought of Ethan, and touched foreheads and gave each other a little kiss ... and those moments when we kissed gradually took on a greater significance than when we first kicked off this strange marriage of ours, wherein both of us knew that although we didn't much like each other, we did somehow belong together ..