1,075 Quotes by Milan Kundera

I say, indeed: "consolation in the nonsentience of nature." For nonsentience is consoling; the world of nonsentience is the world outside human life; it is eternity; "it is the sea gone off with the sun" (Rimbaud).

The tree of possibilities: life as it reveals itself to a man arriving, astonished, at the threshold of his adult life: an abundant treetop canopy filled with bees singing. And he thinks he understands why she never showed him the letters: she wanted to hear the murmur of the tree by herself, without him, because he, Jean-Marc, represented the abolition of all possibilities, he was the reduction, (even though it was a happy reduction) of her life to a single possibility.

Al final del verdadero amor está la muerte y sólo un amor que termina en muerte es amor

Chantal se siente a salvo, porque la voz de Jean-Marc es la voz del amor, la voz cuya existencia había olvidado en aquellos momentos de desconcierto, la voz del amor que la acaricia y la relaja, pero para la que todavía no está preparada; como si esa voz llegara de lejos, de demasiado lejos; tendrá que escucharla aún durante bastante tiempo para creer en ella.

When you sit face to face with someone who is pleasant, respectful, and polite, you have a hard time reminding yourself that nothing he says is true, that nothing is sincere. Maintaining nonbelief (constantly, systematically, without the slightest vacillation) requires a tremendous effort and the proper training-in other words, frequent police interrogations.

[Large countries'] patriotism is different: they are buoyed by their glory, their importance, their universal mission. The Czechs loved their country not because it was glorious but because it was unknown; not because it was big but because it was small and in constant danger. Their patriotism was an enormous compassion for their country.

Čovjek prolazi kroz sadašnjost vezanih očiju. Smije samo naslućivati i nagađati što zapravo doživljava. Tek poslije, kad mu skinu rubac s očiju, može pogledati u prošlost i ustanoviti što je proživio i kakvog to ima smisla.

metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love

Težina, nužnost i vrijednost tri su međusobno povezana pojma: teško je samo ono što je neophodno, samo ono što je teško ima vrijednost.To se uvjerenje rodilo iz Beethovenove glazbe, pa iako je moguće (čak vjerojatno) da su za njega odgovorni više Beethovenovi izdavači nego sam kompozitor, danas ga dijelimo manje-više svi. Veličina čovjeka za nas je u tome što nosi svoju sudbinu kao što Atlas nosi na ramenima nebeski svod. Beethovenov junak je dizač metaforičkih tereta.