“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.”
“Istoriju pišu pobednici. Predanja ispreda puk. Književnici fantaziraju. Izvesna je samo smrt.”
“U svakom mom retku, u svakoj mojoj reči, u svakoj tački nalaziš se i ti, kao polen.”
“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.”
“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?”
“Kad se jedna laž ponavlja dugo, narod počinje da veruje.”
“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”
“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...”
“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”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.)”
“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.”
“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.”
“One Size Does Not Fit All Some of the most brilliant, creative people I know did not do well at school. Many of them didn’t really discover what they could do—and who they really were—until they’d left school and recovered from their education.”
“If this hypothesis of hunger, satiety, and weight regulation is correct, it means that obesity is caused by a hormonal environment—increased insulin secretion or increased sensitivity to insulin—that tilts the balance of fat storage and fat burning. This hypothesis also implies that the only way to lose body fat successfully is to reverse the process; to create a hormonal environment in which fatty acids are mobilized and oxidized in excess of the amount stored. A further implication is that any therapy that succeeds at inducing long-term fat loss—not including toxic substances and disease—has to work through these local regulatory factors on the adipose tissue.”
“It made me hope he would tell me that he still needed me despite all that he had, that he really missed me and wanted me back, but he didn't.”
“when you love someone more than you love yourself you will sacrifice your desires for them. You end up wanting them to be happy even at the cost of your own desires. Actually, your happiness becomes making them happy.”
“(...) rapidamente cheguei à resolução de me lançar no vasto mundo, dirigindo-me a Londres para ir em busca de minha fortuna, uma frase que, parece, tem arruinado mais aventureiros de ambos os sexos saídos do campo do que levado a sua realização.”
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