“Night will always be a time of fear and insecurity, and the heart will sink with the sun.”
“The stars, like dust, encircle me
In living mists of light;
And all of space I seem to see
In one vast burst of sight”
“Do you know what it is to play a part? To split your personality deliberately for twenty-four hours a day? Even when with friends? Even when alone, so that you will never forget inadvertently? To be a dilettante? To be eternally amused? To be of no account? To be so effete and faintly ridiculous that you have convinced all who know you of your own worthlessness? All so that your life may be safe even though it means it has become barely worth living. But even so, once in a while I can fight them.”
“You are a military man and should know better. If there is one science into which man has probed continuously and successfully, it is that of military technology. No potential weapon would remain unrealized for ten thousand years.”
“Even at the time, [he] felt his anger to be out of proportion to the cause, but it represented an accumulation of resentment.”
“Yok olmaktan kurtulanların pek azını teşkil eden bu edebiyat, beni kendisine aşık etti. Bizim dışa dönük dünyamızın tam aksine bu eserlerde içe dönük bir şeyler var.”
“His honor, rests in the very actions that led to his conviction and death. It is beyond your power to add to or detract from it.”
“Gecenin bastırması, kökleri insanlık tarihinin başlarına kadar uzanan büyük bir psikolojik huzursuzluk yaratır. Gece daima bir güvensizlik ve korku zamanıdır ve cesaret güneşle birlikte batıp gitmiştir.”
“Öylesine gülünç olacaksınız ki herkes bir hiç olduğunuza inanacak. Bunun da tek amacı hayatınızı korumak... Gerçekten yaşanmaya değer olup olmadığı şüpheli olan hayatınızı...”
“In fact, it was part of the Tyrannian military tradition that a little discomfort on the part of the soldier was good for discipline.”
“Being helpless is one of the things that isn’t altogether amusing." - Gilbert”
“Schon war der gestreifte, heruntergelassene Schlagbaum zu erkennen, der pilzförmige Unterstand daneben und weiter rechts Stacheldraht, weiße Isolatorenzapfen, vergitterte Wachtürme mit Scheinwerfern. Der Lastwagen hielt an. Alle betrachteten den Grenzer, der mit gekreuzten Beinen, den Karabiner umgehängt, im Unterstand döste. Zwischen seinen Lippen stak eine erloschene Zigarette, und der Boden war mit Zigarettenkippen übersät. Neben dem Schlagbaum ragte ein Pfahl empor mit aufgenagelten Warnschildern: "ACHTUNG! WALD!" " AUSWEISE AUFGESCHLAGEN VORWEISEN!" "KEINE SEUCHEN EINSCHLEPPEN!". Der Fahrer hupte diskret. Der Grenzer öffnete die Augen und starrte trübsinnig vor sich hin. Dann kam er aus dem Unterstand hervor und ging um das Auto herum.
"Ein bißchen viele seid ihr", sagte er heiser. "Holt ihr euer Geld ab?"
"Genau das", sagte der ehemalige Vorsitzende diensteifrig.
"Das lobe ich mir. Recht so", sagte der Grenzer. Er kam um den Lastwagen herum, stellte sich auf das Trittbrett und blickte auf die Ladefläche.
"Mensch, seid ihr viel", sagte er vorwurfsvoll. "Und die Hände? Habt ihr die sauber?"
"Jawoll!", sagten die Mitarbeiter im Chor. Einige zeigten ihre Handflächen.
"Sind sie alle sauber?"
"Jawoll!"
"Gut", sagte der Grenzer und beugte sich mit seinem ganzen Oberkörper ins Fahrerhaus. Von dort ertönte es: "Wer ist der Dienstälteste? Sie? Wieviele fährst du denn? Aha... Lügst du nicht? Wie ist dein Zuname? Kim? Passen Sie auf, Kim, ich schreibe mir deinen Familiennamen auf... Respekt, Woldemar! Du fährst immer noch?... Und ich bewache noch immer die Grenze. Zeig mal die Bestätigung... Na-na, jetzt mach keinen Krach, komm, her damit... In Ordnung... sonst hätte ich dich... Wie kommst du dazu, auf die Bestätigung Telefonnummern zu schreiben? Wart mal... Was für eine Charlotte ist das? Ah ja, ich erinnere mich. Warte, das muß ich mir aufschreiben. Gut, danke. Fahrt los. Ihr könnt fahren."
Er sprang vom Trittbrett, und seine Stiefel wirbelten eine Staubwolke auf. Er ging zum Schlagbaum und ließ sich auf das Gegengewicht fallen. Der Schlagbaum hob sich langsam, die auf ihm aufgehängten Unterhosen fielen in den Staub. Der Lastwagen fuhr an.”
“He HAD seen the world. It had been scary at times, but also exhilarating. Who could have imagined it would be such a complicated, interesting place?...When you saw different parts of the world, you saw different parts of yourself. And when you stayed home, where it was safe, those parts of yourself also stayed hidden. ”
“Library books were, I suddenly realized, promiscuous, ready to lie down in the arms of anyone who asked. Not like bookstore books, which married their purchasers, or were brokered for marriages to others.”
“In the liquid amber within the ivory porcelain, the initiated may touch the sweet reticence of Confucius, the piquancy of Laotse, and the ethereal aroma of Sakyamuni himself.”
“O starry night, This is how I want to die”
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