|

|

Advertisements

Milan Kundera Quotes

The novelist’s ambition is not to do something better than his predecessors but to see what they did not see, say what they did not say Picture Quote #1

Between the approximation of the idea and the precision of reality there was a small gap of the unimaginable, and it was this hiatus that gave him no rest Picture Quote #1

People fascinated by the idea of progress never suspect that every step forward is also a step on the way to the end Picture Quote #1

There are metaphysical problems, problems of human existence, that philosophy has never known how to grasp in all their concreteness and that only the novel can seize Picture Quote #1

In the world of highways, a beautiful landscape means: an island of beauty connected by a long line with other islands of beauty Picture Quote #1

The novel is a territory where one does not make assertions; it is a territory of play and of hypotheses Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

The worst thing is not that the world is unfree, but that people have unlearned their liberty Picture Quote #1

Extremism means borders beyond which life ends, and a passion for extremism, in art and in politics, is a veiled longing for death Picture Quote #1

The source of anxiety lies in the future. If you can keep the future out of mind, you can forget your worries Picture Quote #1

We go through the present blindfolded... Only later, when the blindfold is removed and we examine the past, do we realize what we’ve been through and understand what it means Picture Quote #1

Only a literary work that reveals an unknown fragment of human existence has a reason for being Picture Quote #1

The combination of a frivolous form and a serious subject immediately unmasks the truth about our dramas Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

In the mind of a woman for whom no place is home the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable Picture Quote #1

How did the senator know that children meant happiness? Could he see into their souls? What if the moment they were out of sight, three of them jumped the fourth and began beating him up? Picture Quote #1

Being in a foreign country means walking a tightrope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he has his family, colleagues, and friends, and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood Picture Quote #1

We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration Picture Quote #1

A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time Picture Quote #1

When I was a little boy in short pants, I dreamed about a miraculous ointment that would make me invisible. Then I became an adult, began to write, and wanted to be successful. Now I’m successful and would like to have the ointment that would make me invisible Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

We might also call vertigo the intoxication of the weak. aware of his weakness, a man decides to give in rather than stand up to it. he is drunk with weakness, wishes to grow even weaker, wishes to fall down in the middle of the main square in front of everybody, wishes to be down, lower than down Picture Quote #1

And I ran after that voice through the streets so as not to lose sight of the splendid wreath of bodies gliding over the city, and I realized with anguish in my heart that they were flying like birds and I was falling like a stone, that they had wings and I would never have any Picture Quote #1

Every love relationship rests on an unwritten agreement unthinkingly concluded by the lovers in the first weeks of their love. They are still in a kind of dream but at the same time, without knowing it, are drawing up, like uncompromising lawyers, the detailed clauses of their contract. O lovers! Be careful in those dangerous first days! Once you’ve brought breakfast in bed you’ll have to bring it forever, unless you want to be accused of lovelessness and betrayal Picture Quote #1

We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted merely to sense and guess at what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is untied can we glance at the past and find out what we have experienced and what meaning it has Picture Quote #1

There are moments in life when a man retreats defensively, when he must give ground, when he must surrender less important positions in order to protect the more important ones. But should it come to the very last, the most important one, at this point a man must halt and stand firm if he doesn’t want to begin life all over again with idle hands and a feeling of being shipwrecked Picture Quote #1

Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence Picture Quote #1

Advertisements

We are born one time only, we can never start a new life equipped with the experience we’ve gained from the previous one. We leave childhood without knowing what youth is, we marry without knowing what it is to be married, and even when we enter old age, we don’t know what it is we’re heading for: the old are innocent children innocent of thier old age. In that sense, man’s world is the planet of inexperience Picture Quote #1

... people don’t respect the morning. An alarm clock violently wakes them up, shatters their sleep like the blow of an ax, and they immediately surrender themselves to deadly haste. Can you tell me what kind of day can follow a beginning of such violence? What happens to people whose alarm clock daily gives them a small electric shock? Each day they become more used to violence and less used to pleasure Picture Quote #1

Human life occurs only once, and the reason we cannot determine which of our decisions are good and which bad is that in a given situation we can make only one decision; we are not granted a second, third, or fourth life in which to compare various decisions Picture Quote #1

We all need someone to look at us. We can be divided into four categories according to the kind of look we wish to live under... The fourth category, the rarest, is the category of people who live in the imaginary eyes of those who are not present. They are the dreamers Picture Quote #1

I understand you, and I shall not attempt to make you change your mind. I am too old to want to improve the world. I have told you what I think, and that is all. I shall remain your friend even if you act contrary to my convictions, and I shall help you even if I disagree with you Picture Quote #1

To die; to decide to die; that’s much easier for an adolescent than for an adult. What? Doesn’t death strip an adolescent of a far larger portion of future? Certainly it does, but for a young person, the future is a remote, abstract, unreal thing he doesn’t really believe in Picture Quote #1

1 - 5 6 7 8 9 10

Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

Advertisements

Text Quotes

The novelist’s ambition is not to do something better than his predecessors but to see what they did not see, say what they did not say (Milan Kundera Quotes) Between the approximation of the idea and the precision of reality there was a small gap of the unimaginable, and it was this hiatus that gave him no rest (Milan Kundera Quotes) People fascinated by the idea of progress never suspect that every step forward is also a step on the way to the end (Milan Kundera Quotes) There are metaphysical problems, problems of human existence, that philosophy has never known how to grasp in all their concreteness and that only the novel can seize (Milan Kundera Quotes) In the world of highways, a beautiful landscape means: an island of beauty connected by a long line with other islands of beauty (Milan Kundera Quotes) The novel is a territory where one does not make assertions; it is a territory of play and of hypotheses (Milan Kundera Quotes) The worst thing is not that the world is unfree, but that people have unlearned their liberty (Milan Kundera Quotes) Extremism means borders beyond which life ends, and a passion for extremism, in art and in politics, is a veiled longing for death (Milan Kundera Quotes) The source of anxiety lies in the future. If you can keep the future out of mind, you can forget your worries (Milan Kundera Quotes) We go through the present blindfolded... Only later, when the blindfold is removed and we examine the past, do we realize what we’ve been through and understand what it means (Milan Kundera Quotes) Only a literary work that reveals an unknown fragment of human existence has a reason for being (Milan Kundera Quotes) The combination of a frivolous form and a serious subject immediately unmasks the truth about our dramas (Milan Kundera Quotes) In the mind of a woman for whom no place is home the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable (Milan Kundera Quotes) How did the senator know that children meant happiness? Could he see into their souls? What if the moment they were out of sight, three of them jumped the fourth and began beating him up? (Milan Kundera Quotes) Being in a foreign country means walking a tightrope high above the ground without the net afforded a person by the country where he has his family, colleagues, and friends, and where he can easily say what he has to say in a language he has known from childhood (Milan Kundera Quotes) We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration (Milan Kundera Quotes) A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time (Milan Kundera Quotes) When I was a little boy in short pants, I dreamed about a miraculous ointment that would make me invisible. Then I became an adult, began to write, and wanted to be successful. Now I’m successful and would like to have the ointment that would make me invisible (Milan Kundera Quotes) We might also call vertigo the intoxication of the weak. aware of his weakness, a man decides to give in rather than stand up to it. he is drunk with weakness, wishes to grow even weaker, wishes to fall down in the middle of the main square in front of everybody, wishes to be down, lower than down (Milan Kundera Quotes) And I ran after that voice through the streets so as not to lose sight of the splendid wreath of bodies gliding over the city, and I realized with anguish in my heart that they were flying like birds and I was falling like a stone, that they had wings and I would never have any (Milan Kundera Quotes) Every love relationship rests on an unwritten agreement unthinkingly concluded by the lovers in the first weeks of their love. They are still in a kind of dream but at the same time, without knowing it, are drawing up, like uncompromising lawyers, the detailed clauses of their contract. O lovers! Be careful in those dangerous first days! Once you’ve brought breakfast in bed you’ll have to bring it forever, unless you want to be accused of lovelessness and betrayal (Milan Kundera Quotes) We pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded. We are permitted merely to sense and guess at what we are actually experiencing. Only later when the cloth is untied can we glance at the past and find out what we have experienced and what meaning it has (Milan Kundera Quotes) There are moments in life when a man retreats defensively, when he must give ground, when he must surrender less important positions in order to protect the more important ones. But should it come to the very last, the most important one, at this point a man must halt and stand firm if he doesn’t want to begin life all over again with idle hands and a feeling of being shipwrecked (Milan Kundera Quotes) Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence (Milan Kundera Quotes) We are born one time only, we can never start a new life equipped with the experience we’ve gained from the previous one. We leave childhood without knowing what youth is, we marry without knowing what it is to be married, and even when we enter old age, we don’t know what it is we’re heading for: the old are innocent children innocent of thier old age. In that sense, man’s world is the planet of inexperience (Milan Kundera Quotes) ... people don’t respect the morning. An alarm clock violently wakes them up, shatters their sleep like the blow of an ax, and they immediately surrender themselves to deadly haste. Can you tell me what kind of day can follow a beginning of such violence? What happens to people whose alarm clock daily gives them a small electric shock? Each day they become more used to violence and less used to pleasure (Milan Kundera Quotes) Human life occurs only once, and the reason we cannot determine which of our decisions are good and which bad is that in a given situation we can make only one decision; we are not granted a second, third, or fourth life in which to compare various decisions (Milan Kundera Quotes) We all need someone to look at us. We can be divided into four categories according to the kind of look we wish to live under... The fourth category, the rarest, is the category of people who live in the imaginary eyes of those who are not present. They are the dreamers (Milan Kundera Quotes) I understand you, and I shall not attempt to make you change your mind. I am too old to want to improve the world. I have told you what I think, and that is all. I shall remain your friend even if you act contrary to my convictions, and I shall help you even if I disagree with you (Milan Kundera Quotes) To die; to decide to die; that’s much easier for an adolescent than for an adult. What? Doesn’t death strip an adolescent of a far larger portion of future? Certainly it does, but for a young person, the future is a remote, abstract, unreal thing he doesn’t really believe in (Milan Kundera Quotes)

1 - 5 6 7 8 9 10