Quotes from Milan Kundera

Erigena's argument holds the key to a theological justification (in other words, a theodicy) of shit.

For the very notion of homeland, with all its emotional power, is bound up with the relative brevity of our life, which allows us too little time to become attached to some other country, to other countries, to other languages.

El que empieza dudando de pequeñeces termina dudando de la vida como tal.

He had been afraid of wounding her all his life and voluntarily stuck to a stultifying discipline of monogamy, and now, after twenty years, he suddenly learned that it had all been superfluous and he had given up scores of women because of a misunderstanding.

La vie humaine n'a lieu qu'une seule fois et nous ne pourrons jamais vérifier quelle était la bonne et quelle était la mauvaise décision, parce que, dans toute situation, nous ne pouvons décider qu'une seule fois. Il ne nous est pas donnée une deuxième, une troisième, une quatrième vie pour que nous puissions comparer différentes décisions.

O tempo esporeado pelo ciúme passa a uma velocidade incrível. O ciúme ocupa o espírito ainda mais completamente do que um trabalho intelectual apaixonado. O espírito não tem sequer um segundo de ócio. Aquele que é presa do ciúme ignora o aborrecimento

L'existence en tant que telle confrontée au temps en tant que tel... Cette confrontation s'appelle l'ennui

Mas neste mundo nada dura muito tempo e, por detrás das ondas decrescentes do alívio, subia a voz ténue do desgosto

El vértigo significa que la profundidad que se abre ante nosotros nos atrae, nos seduce, despierta en nosotros el deseo de caer, del cual nos defendemos espantados

Fueron posiblemente aquellas casualidades las que pusieron su amor en movimiento y se convirtieron en una fuente de energía que ella no agotará hasta el fin de su vida.

Because everyone applauds him as a nice, very cosmopolitan Scandinavian who's already forgotten all about the place he comes from.

Hay situaciones en las que las personas están condenadas a hacer teatro.

Nunca seremos capaces de establecer con seguridad en qué medida nuestras relaciones con los demás son producto de nuestros sentimientos, de nuestro amor, de nuestro desamor, bondad, maldad, y hasta que punto son el resultado de la relación de fuerzas existentes entre ellos y nosotros.

Nicht die Notwendigkeit, sondern der Zufall ist voller Zauber. Soll die Liebe unvergeßlich sein, so müssen sich vom ersten Augenblick an Zufälle auf ihr niederlassen wie die Vögel auf den Schultern des Franz von Assisi.

That conversation with the taxi driver suddenly made clear to me the essence of the writer's occupation. We write books because our children aren't interested in us. We address ourselves to an anonymous world because our wives plug their ears when we speak to them.

When the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.

Mladost je užasna; to je pozornica po kojoj na visokim štulama i u najrazli?itijim kostimima hodaju djeca i izgovaraju nau?ene rije?i koje tek napola razumiju, ali kojima su fanati?no odani.

And what better consolation for a dying person than to say to himself: this land bores us? I can imagine those words in neon over the cemetery gates.

See nõrkus, mis tollal oli paistnud Terezale talumatu, eemaletõukav ja mis oli ta maalt minema ajanud, tõmbas teda korraga ligi. Ta adus, et kuulub nõrkade hulka, nõrkade leeri, nõrkade maale ja et ta peab olema neile ustav just seepärast, et nad on nõrgad ja ahmivad keset lauset õhku.

I was not a hypocrite, with one real face and several false ones. I had several faces because I was young and didn't know who I was or wanted to be. (I was frightened by the differences between one face and the next; none of them seemed to fit me properly, and I groped my way clumsily among them.)

Parce qu'aimer c'est renoncer à la force.

A merda é um problema teológico mais difícil que o mal. Deus ofereceu a liberdade ao homem e,portanto, pode admitir-se que ele não é responsável pelos crimes da humanidade. Mas a existência de merda incube inteiramente àquele que criou o homem, e só a ele.

the idea of eternal return implies a perspective from which things appear [...] without the mitigating circumstances of their transitory nature

What is unique about the I hides itself exactly in what is unimaginable about a person. All we are able to imagine is what makes everyone like everyone else, what people have in common. The individual I is what differs from the common stock, that is, what cannot be guessed at or calculated, what must be unveiled, uncovered, conquered.