The woman he had loved most (he was thirty at the time) would tell him (he was nearly in despair when he heard it) that she held on to life by a thre… - Milan Kundera

It takes so little, so infinitely little, for a person to cross the border beyond which everything loses meaning: love, convictions, faith, history. Human life — and herein lies its secret — takes place in the immediate proximity of that border, even in direct contact with it; it is not miles away, but a fraction of an inch.

It takes so little, so infinitely little, for someone to find himself on the other side of the border, where everything - love, convictions, faith, history - no longer has meaning. The whole mystery of human life resides on the fact that it is spent in the immediate proximity of, and even in direct contact with, that border, that it is separated from it not by kilometers but by barely a millimeter.

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.

Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.

ليس اكتمال التاريخ الانساني هو ما حلمت به، ولا إلغاء المستقبل، لا، لا، ما تمنيته هو الاختفاء الكلي للبشر مع مستقبلهم وماضيهم، مع بدايتهم ونهايتهم، مع كل فترة وجودهم، مع ذاكرتهم برمَّتها، مع نيرون ونابليون، مع بوذا والمسيح، تمنيتُ الفناء الكلي لشجرة متجذّرة في بطنٍ صغير بلا سرة لأول امرأة حمقاء لم تكن تعرف ما تفعله، وأي أهوال كلفنا جماعها البائس الذي لم يمنحها أية متعة بالتأكيد