Man's misfortune stems from the fact that he does not want to stay in the room where he belongs. - Patrick Süskind

A guard was like a sphinx. He functioned not by some deed, but rather by his mere bodily presence.

All these grotesque incongruities between the richness of the world perceivable by smell and the poverty of language were enough for the lad Grenouille to doubt that language made any sense at all.

People could close their eyes to greatness, to horrors, to beauty, and their ears to melodies or deceiving words. But they couldn't escape scent. For scent was a brother of breath.