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| The New York Trilogy * The world is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we're not. We are ruled by the forces of chance and coincidence. |
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| This book is from 1985. Today marks the 50th anniversary. The murderers will probably need no Amnesty. They will die without being tried. |
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| Once you are dancing with the devil, the prettiest capers won't help you. |
E.T.A. Hoffmann (24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822)
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| Con questa poesia della tua gloriosa penna in mente alzo il mio bicchiere, caro vecchio amico. * With this poem from your glorious pen in mind I raise my glass, dear old friend. * * * L’amico che è morto di notte mi torna a parlare Mi chiede notizie del mondo che ha dovuto abbandonare Ascolta ciò che dico Poi scuote la testa sospira e scompar * The friend who died comes back to me at night to speak He asks me for news Of the world that he had to abandon He listens to what I say Then he shakes his head sighs and disappears |
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| However and wherever we are, we must live as if we will never die. |
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| Burning Daylight * There's only one way to make a beginning, and that is to begin; and begin with hard work, and patience, prepared for all the disappointments. |
Jack London (12 Januar 1876 – 22 November 1916)
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La ciudad de los prodigos / The City of Marvels * Un problema deja de serlo si no tiene solución. A problem is no longer a problem if it has no solution. |
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| I have spent a great deal of my life being part of minorities. Some of the people I admire the most in the world have had the courage to defend, against wind and tide, minority viewpoints in those frightening times when any disagreement with universal conformity is identified as treason. * * * Like a Fading Shadow The Polish Rider |
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| Nella vita d'un turista che va un po' lontano, credo che a un certo punto sorge per forza la domanda: "Ma cosa sono venuto qui a fare?" Domanda che mette in moto il gran cinema delle giustificazioni con se stessi, per non dirsi sul serio: "Sono qui a non far niente" * In the life of a tourist who goes a little far away, I think that at a certain point the question necessarily arises: "What did I come here for?" This question sets in motion the great cinema of justifications to oneself, so as not to say seriously: "I'm here to do nothing". |
Gianni Celati (10 January 1937 – 3 January 2022)
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| The truth is at the bottom of a well. You look in a well, and you see the sun or the moon, but if you jump in, there's no longer the sun or the moon; there's the truth. |
Leonardo Sciascia (8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989)
