240 Quotes by Cesare Pavese

You’ve got to understand life, understand it when you’re young.

Hate is always a clash between our spirit and someone else’s body.

People who don’t know any better will always be in the dark because the power lies in the hands of men who take good care that ordinary folk don’t understand, in the hands, that is, of the government, of the clerical party, of the capitalists.

From someone who doesn’t want to share your destiny, you should neither accept a cigarette.

Literature is a defense against the attacks of life. It says to life: You can’t deceive me. I know your habits, foresee and enjoy watching all your reactions, and steal your secret by involving you in cunning obstructions that halt your normal flow.

Remember, writing poetry is like making love: one will never know whether one’s own pleasure is shared.

If all this were true, how easy it would be to understand people.

A corpse is what’s left after waking too often.

But here’s the worst part: the trick to life lies in hiding from those we hold most dear how much they mean to is; if not, we’d lose them.