“El camino más fácil no es siempre el mejor.”
“Pero recordé que no estamos aquí porque nos guste, sino para aprender cosas, lo mismo que no se va a la escuela porque sea divertido, sino para ilustrarse; y ¿qué es la vida en la tierra sino una escuela?”
“-Se volvió y miró por la ventana abierta-. Ahí está precisamente el que sabe relajarse mejor en el mundo: un gato. Podrías aprender de él. Nadie le supera en eso.”
“Opinamos que el hombre fuerte puede permitirse el lujo de ser amable, mientras que el dócil e inseguro de sí mismo tiene que fanfarronear para darse un poco de seguridad.”
“En el Tibet creemos que el único enemigo es el hombre a quien no conocemos; basta trabajar junto a un hombre, hablar con él y tratarlo para que deje de ser un enemigo.”
“En el Tibet no hemos creído ni por un momento que el Hombre sea la forma más elevada y más noble de evolución. Creemos que por ahí, en otros mundos, se pueden hallar formas de vida mucho más perfeccionadas, gente incapaz de lanzar bombas atómicas.”
“A mí todo aquello me era insoportable, pues no estoy hecho de la madera de los que aguantan a los tontos con absoluta resignación.”
“No repases tanto, Lobsang, que así se te atasca la memoria. Tienes que estar absolutamente tranquilo, como lo estás ahora, y verás cómo te brota el conocimiento”
“Representan un espíritu masculino y otro femenino íntimamente abrazados, pero la intención de estas pinturas no es en absoluto obscena y ni un solo tibetano las consideraría como tales. Los desnudos abrazados representan el éxtasis que sigue a la unión del Conocimiento y de la Vida perfecta.”
“On kolm põhilist keha: lihalik keha, milles hing saab õppida elu raskeid õppetunde, eeterlik ehk "magnetiline" keha, mille moodustab igaüks meist oma lõbu, ahnuse, tugevate kirgede ja teiste sarnaste asjadega. Kolmas keha on hingekeha, "surematu hing". See on meie lamaistlik usk ja kindlasti mitte ortodokssete budistide usk.”
“Below us the country looked like a black lake. Nowhere was there a glimmer of light. Nowhere, so far as the eye could range, was there a living creature except here in this group of holy buildings. With the going down of the sun, the night wind rose and set about the business of the gods, the dusting of the corners of Earth. As it swept along the valley below, it was trapped by the mountainside and was channeled up through faults in the rock, to emerge into our upper air with a dull moaning boom, like a giant conch calling one to service. Around us there was the creaking and crackling of rocks moving and contracting now that the greater heat of the day had gone. Above us the stars were vivid in the dark night sky. The Old People used to say that Kesar’s Legions had dropped their spears on the Floor of Heaven at the call of Buddha, and the stars were but the reflections of the lights of the Heavenly Room shining through the holes.”
“Teadmised hingamise kontrollimisest aitasid mul vastu seista jaapanlaste piinamistele ja veelgi suurematele piinamistele kommunistide vangina. Ka kõige hullemad jaapanlased on kommunistidega võrreldes härrasmehed! Ma õppisin neid mõlemaid tundma nende kõige halvemast küljest.”
“Most Tibetans have black hair and dark brown eyes.”
“Dunque," mormorò, "secondo lei le feste natalizie sono un'epoca poco favorevole ai delitti."
"E' quel che penso."
"Perché?"
"Perché?" Johnson parve un pò perplesso. "Perché, come ho detto, c'è un senso diffuso di allegria, di buona volontà...di buoni pranzi..."
"Come siete sentimentali, voi inglesi!"
"Bé, e anche se fosse così, che male ci vede? E' forse un male amare le tradizioni, le vecchie feste?"
"Oh no, nessun male, anzi è una cosa molto poetica! Ma esaminiamo i fatti. Lei ha detto che Natale è un'epoca di buoni pranzi. Questo significa che in questi giorni si mangia e si beve troppo...Per conseguenza...indigestioni, e all'indigestione si accompagna spesso una speciale irritabilità del carattere."
"Ma i delitti non vengono commessi per irritabilità."
"uhm! Non ne sono troppo sicuro...Ma partiamo anche da un altro punto di vista. A Natale impera lo spirito di "buona volontà". Vecchi litigi vengono dimenticati, coloro che si trovano in disaccordo fanno la pace...Sia pure provvisoriamente, le famiglie che sono state separate per tutto l'anno si raccolgono ancora una volta. In queste occasioni, amico mio, deve ammettere che i nervi possono venir sottoposti a dura prova. Persone che non hanno alcuna voglia di essere amabili fanno uno sforzo per apparirlo...C'è in essi molta ipocrisia, a Natale, onorevole ipocrisia, senza dubbio, ipocrisia pour le bon motif, ma sempre ipocrisia."
"Bé...io non presenterei le cose in questo modo," disse Johnson con aria dubbiosa.
Poirot gli sorrise.
"No, no, sono io che le presento così...e che sostengo come lo sforzo per essere buoni e amabili crei un malessere che può riuscire in definitiva pericoloso. Chiudete le valvole di sicurezza del vostro contegno naturale, e, presto o tardi, la caldaia scoppierà provocando un disastro."
Il colonnello Johnson guardò il piccolo belga.
"Non riesco mai a capire quando parla sul serio e quando si sta burlando di me."
"Non parlo sul serio, no!" disse Poirot ridendo. "Nemmeno per sogno. Ma sostengo che condizioni artificiali di vita finiscono sempre con una naturale reazione.”
“A well man at sea has little sympathy with one who is seasick; he is too apt to be conscious of a comparison favorable to his own manhood.”
“nothing furnishes a room like books”
“So, he feels now, that he doesn't have to try. And you want him more than you ever have before.”
“To a Westerner the anomaly of this—a man under a life sentence for treason working in a prison on the most secret scientific developments—is almost too much to comprehend. In the Soviet Union it was an accepted practice. Korolev was immensely valuable, but because he was so valuable, he was also dangerous. He consented to work because this way, at least, he got some rations, he was with his colleagues, and he was doing what he loved most of all.”
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