“That was the moment when he grasped that nobody wanted to use their minds. People wanted peace. They wanted to eat and sleep and have other people be nice to them. What they didn't want to do was think.”
“Whenever things were frightening, it was a good idea to measure them.”
“Inzwischen geht es ihm besser, manche Tage seien schon fieberfrei, auch die Träume, in denen er Baron Humboldt erwürge, zerhacke, erschieße, anzünde, vergifte oder unter Steinen begrabe, würden seltener.”
“Man hat uns früh eingeredet, dass ein Leben Publikum benötigt.”
“Ich habe herausgefunden, dass der Mensch bereit ist, Unbill zu erfahren, aber viel Erkenntnis entgeht ihm, weil er den Schmerz fürchtet.”
“Insa, cand au trecut de primele suburbii ale Berlinului si Humboldt si-a inchipuit cum Gauss a cercetat corpurile ceresti prin telescopul sau in tot acest timp - corpuri ceresti ale caror orbite pot fi descrise in formule simple -, n-a mai fost in stare sa spuna care dintre ei doi a ramas acasa si care a colindat lumea.”
“Den Hunde, sagte Bonpland, habe er nie leiden können.”
“Links, sagte Humboldt.
Wieso links, fragte Bonpland.
Also rechts, sagte Humboldt.
Aber warum rechts?
Zum Teufel, rief Humboldt, jetzt werde es ihm zu blöd.”
“Seltsam sei es und ungerecht, sagte Gauß, so recht ein Beispiel für die erbärmliche Zufälligkeit der Existenz, dass man in einer bestimmten Zeit geboren und ihr verhaftet sei, ob man wolle oder nicht. Es verschaffe einem einen unziemlichen Vorteil vor der Vergangenheit und mache einen zum Clown der Zukunft. [...] Sogar ein Verstand wie der seine, sagte Gauß, hätte in frühen Menschheitsaltern oder an den Ufern des Orinoko nichts zu leisten vermocht, wohingegen jeder Dummkopf in zweihundert Jahren sich über ihn lustig machen und absurden Unsinn über seine Person erfinden könne.”
“Gauß kam auf den Zufall zu sprechen, den Feind allen Wissens, den er immer habe besiegen wollen. Aus der Nähe betrachtet, sehe man hinter jedem Ereignis die unendliche Feinheit des Kausalgewebes. Trete man weit genug zurück, offenbarten sich die großen Muster. Freiheit und Zufall seien eine Frage der mittleren Entfernung, eine Sache des Abstands...”
“Aici nu există mai devreme sau mai târziu... aici există doar muncă, asta facem aici.”
“Seltsam sei es und ungerecht, sagte Gauß, so recht ein Beispiel für die erbärmliche Zufälligkeit der Existenz, dass man in einer bestimmten Zeit geboren und ihr verhaftet sei, ob man wolle oder nicht. Es verschaffe einem einen unziemlichen Vorteil vor der Vergangenheit und mache einen zum Clown der Zukunft.”
“Žena je imala tanane, prilično izvijene obrve. Haljina joj je otkrivala leđa i Gaus se pitao kako bi bilo pritisnuti usne na njih.”
“Man hat uns früh eingeschärft, dass ein Leben Publikum benötigt.”
“It is now. It is always now. Now is good. Now could be the best. My name is Catcher. My name was Catcher.
My name...my name...
I am...
I am lost, I am found and then I am free and I am happy.
When I jump over that edge, someone leaps with me, shoulder to shoulder. I smell kinship on him. Kinship is all. I'm not alone.
Never alone.
I land, earth below me, moon above. I am wolf. We are pack.
And that is all I need.”
“You’re not trying to get them to confess their innermost secrets. If they shot a man in Reno just to watch him die, good for them. We don’t want to know about it.”
“That was the best kind of story: when the teller was as much under its spell as the listener.”
“I am damned,' thinks Bunny Munro in a sudden moment of self-awareness reserved for those who are soon to die.”
“Just remember, a dark shadow need light to exist but light doesn't need darkness to be luminous.”
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