Czesław Miłosz · 320 pages
Rating: (318 votes)
“The creative act of the artist lifts him above himself by demanding full surrender. No one puts words on paper or paint on canvas, doubting. If one doubts, one does so five minutes later...”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“No, non imiterò mai coloro che cancellano le proprie tracce, ripudiano il proprio passato e sono morti, anche se con equilibrismi intellettuali fanno finta di essere vivi. Le mie radici sono laggiù, all’Est, su questo non v’è alcun dubbio. Anche se trovo difficile e spiacevole spiegare chi sono, bisogna pur tentare di farlo.”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“Come tutte le biblioteche, era chiusa al pubblica e sottoposta all’amministrazione centrale tedesca, ma conservava il vecchio personale, il quale, pur avendo stipendi da fame, rimaneva al proprio posto per un patriottismo aziendale – i bibliotecari d’altronde costituiscono una razza speciale, capace di nutrirsi del solo amore per i propri libri.”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“[…] perché esistono dei mostri che nessuno può vincere in un combattimento faccia a faccia.”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“[…] alla fin fine, bisogna saper apprezzare i vantaggi che si traggono dalle proprie origini.”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“Sono gli impiegati che inventano, in fin dei conti, tutte queste scartoffie [i passaporti] per avvelenare la vita agli uomini, e le loro disposizioni non vanno prese troppo sul serio.”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
“Oggi penso talvolta che il vicino dell’Elefante poteva essere il futuro ufficiale della Gestapo che lo avrebbe torturato durante gli interrogatori. L’Elefante non era fatto per stare in prigione perché membro di una qualche organizzazione clandestina, non era fatto per sopportare la slogatura delle articolazioni e gli schiaffi né poi, con le gambe rotte dopo un tentativo di fuga nel suicidio, per capire con sollievo, in un resto di consapevolezza, che il suo povero corpo stava morendo. Ma il gioviale Elefante era nato per vivere in armonia e pace, tra gli scherzi bonari e le chiacchierate con gli amici davanti a un bicchiere di vino. Era liberale, scettico e restio alle tentazioni dell’eroismo. A mio parere, la sua morte e quella dei suoi simili grava sui Wandervögel nostri coetanei assai di più della morte di molti giovani fanatici.”
― Czesław Miłosz, quote from Native Realm: A Search for Self-Definition
Czesław Miłosz
Born place: in Šeteniai, Lithuania
Born date June 30, 1911
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“First, no qualms. Not the thinnest sliver of misgiving about the value of his work. He was able to feel that the most important job in the world was putting over Monsoon. In the second place, he was as uninhibited as a performing seal. He never questioned his right to monopolize conversations or his ability to do it entertainingly. And then there was his colossal lack of perspective. This was one of his most valuable gifts, for perspective doesn't always pay. It can slow you down.”
― Budd Schulberg, quote from What Makes Sammy Run?
“memory and regret can mingle, how much sorrow can be held within, and how nothing seems to have any shape or meaning until it is well past and lost and, even then, how much, under the weight of pure determination, can be forgotten and left aside only to return in the night as piercing pain.”
― Colm Tóibín, quote from The Master
“Beauty loved him more than anything, her Beast boy, but, secretly, sometimes, she wished he would have remained a Beast.”
― Francesca Lia Block, quote from The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold
“Everyone is going to annoy you somewhat. The trick is to find the person who only annoys you a little, and where what you love about them outweighs what you don’t love. They’ll never be perfect, but they’ll be perfect for you. The problem is that people think it has to be perfect all the time, and that’s not possible.”
― Sarah Lyons Fleming, quote from And After
“We’re watching your mate,” Sian said. “Well done. She’s horrifyingly lovely.”
― Kresley Cole, quote from Sweet Ruin
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