Maria

“ Once a person has been poisoned by self-deception, he can't make decisions about himself as neatly as all that," Himiko said, elaborating her friend's terrific prophecy; " You won't get a divorce Bird. You'll justify yourself like crazy, and try to salvage your married life by confusing the real issues. A decision like divorce is beyond you now, Bird, the poison has gone to work. And you know how the story ends ? Not even your own wife will trust you absolutely, and one day you'll discover for yourself that your entire private life is in the shadow of deception and in the end you'll destroy yourself. Bird, the first signs of self-destruction have appeared already!"
" But that's a blind alley! Leave it to you to paint the most hopeless future you can think of. " Bird lunged at jocularity...”
― Kenzaburō Ōe, A Personal Matter

“Death has come in the pantry door: stands watching them, iron and patient, with a look that says 'try to tickle me.”
― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow

“…I kept trying to run away. And I almost did. But it seems that reality compels you to live properly when you live in the real world.”
― Kenzaburō Ōe, A Personal Matter

“Life's single lesson: that there is more accident to it than a man can ever admit to in a lifetime and stay sane.”
― Thomas Pynchon, V.