Should we die, the mechanics of life would go on without us, and that is what people feel most terribly disturbed by,' Korin interrupted himself, bow… - László Krasznahorkai

The only revolutionary feeling he was aware of, or so he considered while standing in the doorway, was pride, his own pride, a pride that did not allow him to understand that there was no qualitative difference between things, a presumptuous over-confidence which condemned him to ultimate disillusion, for to live according to the spirit of qualitative difference requires superhuman qualities.

Nel fisico era cresciuto, dimagrito, le tempie ormai cominciavano a ingrigirsi, ma per il bambino di allora, o per l’uomo di oggi, tutte le cose che servono su questa terra non significavano nulla, così come non aveva ancora imparato a conciliare il corso immutabile dell’universo di cui lui stesso era parte (una parte molto effimera) con la nozione filosofica del tempo che passa: in pratica non sapeva bene cosa fosse il futuro. Assisteva agli eventi umani che scorrevano lenti intorno a lui senza mostrare passioni o coinvolgimento personale, le sue effettive difficoltà intellettive erano sempre venate da una malinconica tristezza, perché nonostante gli sforzi, non riusciva a capire, e di conseguenza a vivere, come i cari amici che conosceva: il suo cervello, preda di un meravigliato stupore, era scollegato dalle normali faccende terrene (con terribile vergogna della madre, e massimo divertimento della gente locale), sembrava vivere nell’invulnerabilità di un istante eterno, come in una bolla di sapone che non sarebbe mai scoppiata.

He heard hundreds of exhausted feet scraping the ground behind him, he saw the stray cats at his own feet as they scattered in fear before the silently advancing mass of raised iron stakes, but he felt nothing except the weight of the hand on his shoulder steering him through the army of fur caps and heavy boots. Don't be afraid, the other man repeated. Valuska gave a quick nod and glanced up at the sky. He glanced up and suddenly had the sensation that the sky wasn't where it was supposed to be; terrified, he looked up again and confirmed the fact that there was indeed nothing there, so he bowed his head and surrendered to the fur caps and boots, realizing that it was no use to search because what he sought was lost, swallowed up by this coming together of forces, of details, of this earth, this marching.