Zeno's Conscience

You see things less clearly when you open your eyes too wide.

It is comfortable to live in the belief that you are great, though your greatness is latent.

Misunderstanding women is a clear sign of scant virility.

Health doesn't analyze itself, nor does it look at itself in the mirror. Only we sick people know something about ourselves.

Complete freedom consists of being able to do what you like, provided you also do something you like less.

Sorrow and love ― life, in other words ― cannot be considered a sickness because they hurt.

True religion, indeed, is that which does not have to be avowed in order to provide the solace that at times...if only rarely...you cannot do without.

The fancies of wine are authentic events.

... a preached immorality is more to be punished than an immoral action. You arrive at murder through love or through hate; you propagandize murder only through wickedness.

When will you discover that it would be a good idea to memorize your life, even the large part of it that will revolt you?

Unlike other sicknesses, life is always fatal. It doesn't tolerate therapies. It would be like stopping the holes that we have in our bodies, believing them wounds. We would die of strangulation the moment we were treated.

Birine ruh yapısının ne biçim olduğunu açıklamak, dilediği gibi davranmasına izin vermenin bir yoludur.

Under the law established by the possessor of the greatest number of devices, sickness and the sick will flourish.

V jedné jediné maličkosti se s Augustou neshodujeme, a to v názoru, jak zacházet se zlobivými dětmi: já si myslím, že bolest dítěte je méně důležitá než naše a že je lepší způsobit bolest dítěti, jestliže to dospělého ušetří velké mrzutosti, kdežto ona se domnívá, že jsme dítě zplodili, a tak je musíme taky snášet.

A vida assemelha-se um pouco a uma enfermidade: também procede por crises e por depressões. A diferença entre as outras doenças é que a vida é sempre mortal.

When my eyes closed, however, in the darkness I saw that her words had created a new world, like all words that are not true. I

I wanted again May roses in December. I

Forse traverso una catastrofe inaudita prodotta dagli ordigni ritorneremo alla salute. Quando i gas velenosi non basteranno più, un uomo fatto come tutti gli altri, nel segreto di una stanza di questo mondo, inventerà un esplosivo incomparabile, in confronto al quale gli esplosivi attualmente esistenti saranno considerati quali innocui giocattoli. Ed un altro uomo fatto anche lui come tutti gli altri, ma degli altri un po’ più ammalato, ruberà tale esplosivo e s’arrampicherà al centro della terra per porlo nel punto ove il suo effetto potrà essere il massimo. Ci sarà un’esplosione enorme che nessuno udrà e la terra ritornata alla forma di nebulosa errerà nei cieli priva di parassiti e di malattie. [La coscienza di Zeno, 1923]

In psychoanalysis there is never repetition, neither of the same images nor

The sun didn’t illuminate me! When you are old, you remain in shadow, even when you have wit.