Aicha

“Vienna wasn't just a city, it was a tone that either one carries forever in one's soul or one does not. It was the most beautiful thing in my life. I was poor, but I was not alone, because I had a friend. And Vienna was like another friend. When it rained in the tropics, I always heard the voice of Vienna. And at other times too. Sometimes deep in the virgin forests I smelled the musty smell of the entrance hall in Hietzing. Music and everything I loved was in the stones of Vienna, and in people's glances and their behavior, the way pure feelings are part of one's very heart. You know when the feelings stop hurting. Vienna in winter and spring. The allés in Schönbrunn. The blue light in the dormitory at the academy, the great white stairwell with the baroque statue. Morning ridings in the Prater. The mildew in the riding school. I remember all of it exactly, and I wanted to see it again...”
― Sándor Márai, Embers

“Lack of originality, everywhere, all over the world, from time immemorial, has always been considered the foremost quality and the recommendation of the active, efficient and practical man.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot

“الزمن يحتفظ بكل شيء، لكن كل شيء يعود باهتاً مثل الصور القديمة المثبتة فوق صفائح معدنية. الضوء ومرور الزمن يمحيان التفاصيل الدقيقة التي تميز الوجوه المصورة. على المرء النظر إلى الصورة من زوايا مختلفة والبحث عن الضوء المناسب للتعرف على وجه الشخص الذي ظلت ملامحه مثبتة على المرآة الكامدة للصفيحة. بالطريقة ذاتها تتبدد في الزمن كل الذكريات الإنسانية. ثم، في لحظة غير متوقعة يأتينا شعاع من النور فنرى الوجه المنسي ذاته.”
― شاندور ماراي, اللقاء الأخير

“You can even make facts lie.”
― Sándor Márai, La herencia de Eszter