He had never wanted to know anything about the part of her intimate life that he had not shared with her. Why should he take an interest now, still l… - Milan Kundera

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He had never wanted to know anything about the part of her intimate life that he had not shared with her. Why should he take an interest now, still less take offense at it? Anyhow, he asked himself, what is an intimate secret? Is that where we hide what's most mysterious, most singular, most original about a human being? Are her intimate secrets what make Chantal the unique being he loves? No. What people keep secret is the most common, the most ordinary, the most prevalent thing, the same thing that everybody has: the body and its needs, its maladies, its manias-constipation for instance, or menstruation. We ashamedly conceal these intimate matters not because they are so personal but on the contrary, they are so lamentably impersonal.

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About Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera (1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Franco-Czech novelist born in Brno, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic).

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Kundera
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Additional quotes by Milan Kundera

Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out is mute. Only chance can speak to us. We read its message much as gypsies read the images made by coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup.

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الموت قريب إلى درجة نمل معها من النظر إليه. ويصير كما في السابق بعيدا عن النظر وغير مرئي. بعيد عن النظر مثل الأشياء الأليفة جدا والمعروفة جدا.

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