Peter Farago

“It had lasted no more than four days—four days which were perhaps the happiest days of his life. But now he had exhausted his memories, was sated by them, and the image of Mary, together with that of the old dying poet, now remained in the house of ghosts, which itself was already a memory.
Other than that image no Mary existed, nor could exist.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Mary

“....the truth is no road to fortune, and the populace doesn’t give out ambassadorships, university chairs, or pensions.”
― Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract.

“The eyes of the Englishman were open and stared back with frank candour. Except for the irises, which were of flecked grey so that they seemed smoky like the hoar mist on a winter’s morning. It took Rodin a few seconds to realize that they had no expression at all. Whatever thoughts did go on behind the smoke-screen, nothing came through, and Rodin felt a worm of unease.

Like all men created by systems and procedures, he did not like the unpredictable and therefore the uncontrollable.”
― Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal

“Content,” Guildenstern agreed. “One aspires to happiness, but not too much since one would not wish to be disappointed.”
― A.J. Hartley, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark