F > F's Quotes

“In the beginning the Universe was created.
This had made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“Does happiness really depend on self-delusion?”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

“The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”
― Carl Sagan, Contact

“The spectacle is the nightmare of imprisoned modern society which ultimately expresses nothing more than its desire to sleep. The spectacle is the guardian of sleep.”
― Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle

“He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt.”
― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure.”
― Albert Camus, The Stranger

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.”
― Søren Kierkegaard , The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Orienting Deliberation on the Dogmatic Issue of Hereditary Sin

“... it is, after all, not necessary to fly right into the middle of the sun, but it is necessary to crawl to a clean little spot on Earth where the sun sometimes shines and one can warm oneself a little.”
― Franz Kafka, Letter to His Father

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
― Soren Kierkegaard

“Janet! Donkeys!”
― Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

“I exist, that is all, and I find it nauseating.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness

“Life is a useless passion.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness

“To believe is to know that one believes, and to know that one believes is no longer to believe.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness

“I may not have been sure about what really did interest me, but I was absolutely sure about what didn't.”
― Albert Camus, The Stranger

“I had only a little time left and I didn't want to waste it on God.”
― Albert Camus, L'Étranger

“Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas.”
― Albert Camus, The Stranger

“The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicked man does in actual life.”
― Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams

“The interpretation of Dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind”
― Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams

“The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.”
― Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams

“Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says, "But doctor...I am Pagliacci.”
― Alan Moore, Watchmen

“If Marx came back to life today, he would probably urge his few remaining disciples to devote less time to reading Das Kapital and more time to studying the Internet and the human genome.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow

“The capitalist and consumerist ethics are two sides of the same coin, a merger of two commandments. The supreme commandment of the rich is ‘Invest!’ The supreme commandment of the rest of us is ‘Buy!’ The capitalist–consumerist ethic is revolutionary in another respect. Most previous ethical systems presented people with a pretty tough deal. They were promised paradise, but only if they cultivated compassion and tolerance, overcame craving and anger, and restrained their selfish interests. This was too tough for most. The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to. Most Christians did not imitate Christ, most Buddhists failed to follow Buddha, and most Confucians would have caused Confucius a temper tantrum. In contrast, most people today successfully live up to the capitalist–consumerist ideal. The new ethic promises paradise on condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money and that the masses give free reign to their cravings and passions and buy more and more. This is the first religion in history whose followers actually do what they are asked to do. How though do we know that we'll really get paradise in return? We've seen it on television.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, קיצור תולדות האנושות

“If I ask you to think about something, you can decide not to. But if I make you feel something? Now I have your attention.”
― Lisa Cron, Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence

“We all become caricatures of ourselves, if we live long enough”
― Noah Hawley, Before the Fall

“As a writer, you should not judge, you should understand.”
― Ernest Hemingway

“If you cannot afford to waste time, you will never find the truth.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

“I have to return some videotapes”
― Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho

“Quotations are useful in periods of ignorance or obscurantist beliefs.”
― Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle

“Les paroles d'amour, qui sont toujours les mêmes, prennent le goût des lèvres dont elles sortent.”
― Guy de Maupassant, Bel-Ami