Quotes from Umberto Eco

We lists because we don't want to die.

I began writing in March of 1978, prodded by a seminal idea: I felt like poisoning a monk.

Anything was possible if the impossible was true.

Boethius says, nothing is more fleeting than external form, which withers and alters like the flowers of the field at the appearance of autumn;

Where have i=I read that at the end, when life, surface upon surface, has become completely encrusted with experience, you know everything, the secret, the power, and the glory, why you were born, why you are dying, and how it all could have been different? You are wise. But the greatest wisdom, at that moment, is knowing that your wisdom is too late. You understand everything when there is no longer anything to understand.

Comoquiera que fuese, su pesimismo natural, su difícil ajuste de cuentas con el pasado, se habían paliado en el diálogo con una memoria mineral, objetiva, obediente, irresponsable, transistorizada, tan humanamente inhumana que era capaz de aliviarle su habitual malestar existencial.

Qué pensaba yo en realidad hace quince años? Consciente de mi incredulidad me sentía culpable entre la multitud de los que creían. Puesto que sentía que no se equivocaban, decidí creer como quien se toma una aspirina. Daño no hace, y uno mejora.

No son las noticias las que hacen el periódico sino el periódico el que hace las noticias.

Ik voelde me verdoofd van de slaap, want de slaap overdag is als de zonde van het vlees: hoe meer je ervan hebt gehad, hoe meer je ervan zou willen hebben, en toch voel je je ongelukkig, voldaan en onvoldaan tegelijkertijd.

Çünkü güzelliÄŸi yaratan, üç ÅŸeyin uyumudur: her ÅŸeyden önce, bütünlük ya da yetkinlik - bu yüzden yetkin olmayan ÅŸeylere çirkin deriz; sonra gerekli orant? ya da uyum; son olarak da ayd?nl?k ve ???k; gerçekten de rengi aç?k seçik olan nesnelere güzel deriz.

ÇoÄŸu kez, bilimadam?, büyülü olmayan kitaplar? sayg?s?z gözlerden korumak için büyülü göstermelidir.

El Anticristo puede nacer de la misma piedad, del excesivo amor por Dios o por la verdad, así como el hereje nace del santo y el endemoniado del vidente. Huye

I would define the poetic effect as the capacity that a text displays for continuing to generate different readings, without ever being completely consumed.

A coloro che sono privi di una qualunque identità sociale, l'Ur-Fascismo dice che il loro unico privilegio è il più comune di tutti, quello di essere nati nello stesso paese.

A avea un duÈ™man e important nu numai pentru a ne defini identitatea, ci È™i pentru a ne procura un obstacol în raport cu care s? ne evalu?m sistemul de valori È™i s? ne ar?t?m, înfruntându-l, propria valoare. De aceea, atunci când duÈ™manul nu exist?, el trebuie construit.

Oh, he can bend even the theologians to his will," Michael said sadly. "Not necessarily," William replied. "We live in times when those learned in divine things have no fear of proclaiming the Pope a heretic. Those learned in divine things are in their way the voice of the Christian people. Not even the Pope can set himself against them now.

De fabula narratur

the beauty of the cosmos derives not only from unity in variety, but also from variety in unity.

Omnis mundi creatura quasi liber et pictura       nobis est in speculum (All the world's creatures      As a book and a picture      Are to us as a mirror)

Ä°yi bir av bu, William Birader, ama geceleri dikkatli olun.' 'Niçin gündüzleri deÄŸil?' 'Çünkü burada gündüzleri bedenler yararl? otlarla iyileÅŸtirilir; geceleriyse kafalar zehirli otlarla hasta edilir.

TotuÈ™i, înc? de la început, sunt configuraÈ›i ca duÈ™mani nu atât cei care ne amenin?? direct (cum ar fi cazul barbarilor), ci aceia pe care cineva are interes s?-i reprezinte ca fiind amenin??tori, chiar dac? nu ne amenin?? direct, astfel încât nu caracterul lor amenin??tor s? le scoat? în relief alteritatea, ci alteritatea lor s? devin? semn de ameninÈ›are.

For three things concur in creating beauty: first of all integrity or perfection, and for this reason we consider ugly all incomplete things; then proper proportion or consonance; and finally clarity and light, and in fact we call beautiful those things of definite color.

Eski bir atasözünün dediÄŸi gibi, tüy kalemi üç parmak tutar, ama tüm beden çal???r.

I have seen many other fragments of the cross, in other churches. If all were genuine, our Lord's torment could not have been on a couple of planks nailed together, but on an entire forest.