A Moth to a Flame

Real dread is knowing that your thoughts lie to you, even when you think you are being honest

Med människor i en liten båt sker något sällsamt. Vad de upplever är att de känner sig ensamma. Vad de känner är att de är ensamma tillsammans, tillsammans med de andra i båten. Därför uppstår mellan människor i små båtar en tillfällig tillgivenhet. Man har ju bara varandra och djupa vatten är skrämmande och små båtar är mycket bräckliga. Var och en blir den andres livboj. Är inte du rädd så inte är jag det.

Wise, because wisdom is to be in love with life, whereas foolishness is to be ashamed of love

After all, there is little we can do when we're sitting at the same table and drinking tea with someone we hate. Judas himself could be sitting at our table, and we wouldn't ask him about Jesus. We would talk to him about the weather.

I think that the more theoretical knowledge you obtain, the more multifarious and kaleidoscopic your view becomes of the reality that lurks behind concepts. This reality is so insatiably rich that a fixed determinant of a concept's position must simply be an absurdity.

Judas himself could be sitting at our table, and we wouldn't ask him about Jesus. We would talk to him about the weather.

Det är ett faktum som ingen kan bestrida att hon under hela denna långa tid inte en dag vikit från min sida. Om dagarna har hon ständigt varit i mina tankar. Om nätterna har hon varit i mina drömmar.

They are given a lot of alcohol, suspiciously more than they have a right to, and it tastes good. First, it warms you and gives you beautiful eyes, and then it makes everyone else's eyes beautiful, too. Everything hard becomes soft, and all that is yours becomes theirs. If you give someone your hand, there is someone to take it. And if you say something, there is someone who will listen as if it were worth listening to. You get closer to each other, and it feels good to get closer. Your lips become beautiful, and your mouth becomes gentle and friendly. Everything is warm and all shadows disappear. Sorrow itself takes on the form of happiness.

It may be true that death is a big empty hole and that sorrow is to know just how empty that hole is, but it's only true if you are sober. If you have liquor, then you can fill the hole up with all the beautiful thoughts you can think of and all the nice words you can find. You can fill it up all the way to the brim and place a stone on it afterward.

Experiența[..] este capătul unor încercări fructoase, întreprinse cu cel mai desăvârșit cinism, de a nega toate acele lucruri pe care le-au prețuit ca adevărate,curate,drepte. Ei unii nu-și dau seama de teribilul cinism care zace în această permanentă definire a experienței ca suprem scop al vieții.

Niets is zo mooi als de eerste eenzame minuten met iemand die jou zou kunnen beminnen en iemand die je zelf zou kunnen beminnen. Er bestaat niets dat zo stil is als die minuten, niets zo verzadigd met liefdelijke verwachting. In die paar minuten heeft men lief, niet in de vele die volgen. Nooit meer weet zij, zal zo iets schoons hen overkomen. Blijer zullen ze misschien worden, beter ook, en oneindig tevreden met elkaars lichaam. Maar nooit zal het meer zo schoon zijn.

Only he who is not at home in the land of little dogs will be left to become a big dog. And the only advantage of being a big dog in a world of little dogs is that you are no longer afraid to die. But a big dog - least of all a big dog - cannot escape the shame of living either. This is why I'm doing what I'm doing.

In the land of little dogs, everyone could live how they pleased if only anyone knew what they wanted. But in the land of little dogs, no one believes in their aspirations, because everyone knows that they themselves are lying cheats. There's only one wish in the land of little dogs, and that is to want to always be someone else. Everything is fluid in the land of little dogs, even stones. And the stone of dishonesty displaces the stone of honesty. There, even the masks wear masks. And to don yet another mask is called unmasking.

I've been a big dog because I have deceived all of you. But I've also been a little dog because I've deceived myself, too. We all deceive ourselves in the land of little dogs, and we can only dream of having little dog adventures. But all of us are afraid of having the greatest adventure of all: to live purely. Little dogs have a panic-stricken fear of this one great adventure, because for them only truly filthy adventures are worth living for. In the land of little dogs, indecency is worse than immorality. But they fail to realize that only one thing is truly immoral: to consciously want to hurt someone. Therefore, in the land of little dogs, passive malice is more esteemed than active goodness.

Quite suddenly, he is moved. And he sees that the son is moved, too. To keep their emotions alive, the father pours them both another shot. He doesn't want to make the son drunk. He just wants to make him beautiful. And anyone who is moved is beautiful. He is already beautiful. He has beautiful moist eyes. His cheeks are flushed, and his lips are silky. And when they toasted the fourth time, he is even gentler. And when he speaks, he speaks so beautifully.