Renato

“To be here or somewhere else, to live or not to live, to look out through a broken window or not to look.”
― Arnošt Lustig, Diamonds of the Night

“There was some need, some attraction that drew him closer to the German boy whose life he'd save, just to lose his own. But it was life that connected them, because it was death at the same time. It couldn't be put into words, it was intangible, but it was as complete as everything in life is; it was what connected birds and people or a grain of dust and the stars. It was strong because it was so weak and weak because it was so strong.”
― Arnošt Lustig, Diamonds of the Night

“The hope killed them," said the old man. "It killed the very best of them. And hopelessness straightened out the very best of us.”
― Arnošt Lustig, Diamonds of the Night

“Time reminds everybody of death, but who goes around day and night talking about it? Was this the source of that strange anxiety which sometimes comes over us, without our knowing why? Like some strange sister of joy, it was a tremor of fear, of ending, of all that begins and passes away. Was this the source of that odd loneliness we feel even when we aren't alone. and which is akin to stardust?”
― Arnošt Lustig, Diamonds of the Night