Quotes from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Mislila sam, kao što ljudi u teškim nevoljama misle, da će mi promena mesta pomoći da zaboravim svoj bol, kao da svoju nesreću ne nosimo U sebi.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Istoriju pišu pobednici. Predanja ispreda puk. Književnici fantaziraju. Izvesna je samo smrt.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“U svakom mom retku, u svakoj mojoj reči, u svakoj tački nalaziš se i ti, kao polen.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Na kraju - kažem na kraju, a trebalo je da prođu godine patnji, rastanaka, raskida - uvideli smo da su nam životi vezani zauvek i da svojim slabim ljudskim snagama ne možemo ništa ni protiv svoje ljubavi ni protiv prepreka koje joj stoje na putu.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Što je bilo, bilo je. Prošlost živi u nama i ne možemo je izbrisati. Pošto su snovi slika onoga sveta, i dokaz njegovog postojanja, susrećemo se u snovima; kleči kraj furune u koju trpa vlažna drva; ili me doziva promuklim glasom. Tada se budim i palim svetlo. Kajanje i bol se polako pretvaraju u sumornu radost sećanja. Naš dugi, strasni i strašni roman ispunio je moj život, osmislio ga je, i ja ne tražim nikakve nadoknade. Mene neće biti u indeksu knjiga Mendela Osipoviča, u njegovim biografijama ili u fusnoti uz neku pesmu. Ja, gospodine, jesam delo Mendela Osipoviča, kao što je i on moje delo. Ima li lepšeg proviđenja?”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Kad se jedna laž ponavlja dugo, narod počinje da veruje.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“The past was a minefield about which few maps seemed to agree. And why should that surprise me? It's a big place.
p. 30”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Lakše je mudrovati nego leteti, priznajem", reče Simon s tugom u glasu. "Eto, čak i ti znaš da brbljaš, a da se nisi nikad u svom kukavnom životu otrgao od zemlje ni metar visoko... A sad me pusti da skupim svoju snagu, da saberem svoje misli u jednu žižu, da pomislim svom silinom na užas zemaljskog življenja, na nesavršenstvo sveta, na mirijade života što se razdiru, na zveri što se međusobno kolju, na zmiju koja peči lane što preživa u hladu, na vukove koji razdiru jagnjad, na bogomoljke što ubijaju svoje mužjake, na pčele što umiru posle uboda, na bol majki koje nas rađaju, na slepe mačiće što ih deca bacaju u reku, na užas riba u utrobi ulješure, na užas ulješure kad se nasuče na obalu, na tugu slona koji mre od starosti, na kratkotrajnu radost leptira, na varljivu lepotu cveta, na kratkotraju varku ljubavnog zagrljaja, na užas prolivenog semena, na nemoć ostarelog tigra, na trulež zuba u ustima, na mirijade mrtvog lišća što se taloži u šumama, na strah tek izleglog ptića koje majka istiskuje iz gnezda, na paklene muke gliste koja se prži na suncu kao na živoj vatri, na bol ljubavnog rastanka, na užas gubavaca, na strašnu metamorfozu ženskih sisa, na rane, na bol slepaca...”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“History is written by the victors. Legends are woven by the people. Writers fantasize. Only death is certain.

"To Die for One's Country is Glorious," p. 131”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Opasno je naginjati se nad tuđom prazninom, a u pustoj želji da se u njoj, kao na dnu bunara, ogleda svoje sopstveno lice; jer i to je taština. Taština nad taštinama.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“The local Red Cross chapter volunteered to publish his book. It came out in a deluxe, gold-embossed, Japanese-paper edition to remind the reader of human artistry, which can be a refuge from evil and a source of new, platonic stirrings. One copy was reserved for His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II. (The Tsar fairly devoured mystical works, believing that hell could be avoided by a combination of education and deceit.)

"The Book of Kings and Fools," p. 136.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Jer - a to je mislim osnovna poruka sastavljača "Enciklopedije" - nikad se ništa ne ponavlja u istoriji ljudskih bića, sve što se na prvi pogled čini da je isto jedva da je slično; svaki je čovek zvezda za sebe, sve se događa uvek i nikad, sve se ponavlja beskrajno i neponovljivo. (Stoga sastavljači "Enciklopedije mrtvih", tog veličanstvenog spomenika različitosti, insistiraju na pojedinačnom, zato im je svako ljudsko stvorenje svetinja.)”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Ako ne možeš da deluješ u pogibeljnoj sprezi tih protivurečnih sila, moralnih i pesničkih, povuci se. Zalivaj kupus u svome vrtu, a ruže gaji samo na groblju. Jer ruže su pogubne po dušu.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

“Sećam se - ako imam pravo da se sećam - uzbuđenja kada smo prvi put izmešali naše stvari u jednom hotelu u Bakuu: odeća nam je stajala u ormanima na vešalicama, u nekoj lascivnoj intimnosti.”
― Danilo Kiš, quote from The Encyclopedia of the Dead

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“إن فى أصحاب النفوس الحساسة، المرهفة، الرقيقة، نوعاً من العناد فى بعض الأحيان، فترى أحدهم يأبى أن يعبّر للشخص الذى يحبه عن حبه، لا بين الناس فحسب، بل وفى الخلوة أكثر مما بين الناس، ويندر أن تفلت منه ملاطفة، ولكنها إن أفلتت كانت عنيفة قوية عارمة، على قدر انحباسها مدة طويلة من الزمان.”
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“Fuller Warren had won the 1948 election by running as a moderate and promising to ease racial tension and violence in Florida. He’d denounced the Klansmen who paraded through Lake County on election night (with Sheriff Willis McCall following behind) as “hooded hoodlums and sheeted jerks,” and Moore cautiously held out some hope for the new governor. Warren had admitted to being a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, but renouncing his past, like many a politician before and since, he’d stated that he had joined years before “as a favor to a friend” and that he “never wore a hood.” Moore did not adopt a wait-and-see approach with the new governor.”
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