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“I said so little.
Days were short.
Short days.
Short nights.
Short years.
I said so little.
I couldn't keep up.
My heart grew weary
From joy,
Despair,
Ardor,
Hope.
The jaws of Leviathan
Were closing upon me.
Naked, I lay on the shores
Of desert islands.
The white whale of the world
Hauled me down to its pit.
And now I don't know
What in all that was real.”
―
Days were short.
Short days.
Short nights.
Short years.
I said so little.
I couldn't keep up.
My heart grew weary
From joy,
Despair,
Ardor,
Hope.
The jaws of Leviathan
Were closing upon me.
Naked, I lay on the shores
Of desert islands.
The white whale of the world
Hauled me down to its pit.
And now I don't know
What in all that was real.”
―
“Să nu-l învinuieşti, Vanea, mă întrerupse Nataşa, şi să nu râzi de el! Ar fi nedrept să-l judeci ca pe oricare altul. Că doar el nu-i ca alţii, ca mine, ori ca tine, de pildă. E încă un copil, a fost crescut altfel decât noi. Parcă el îşi dă seama de ce face? Cea dintâi impresie, cea dintâi înrâurire străină poate să-l facă să uite toate jurămintele făcute cu câteva clipe înainte şi să-l îndepărteze de tot ce-i păruse nepreţuit până atunci. N-are caracter. Uite acum se jură în faţa ta şi în aceeaşi zi, cu tot atâta sinceritate, se dăruie altei inimi şi altor pasiuni; ba chiar vine singur să ţi-o spună. E în stare şi de o faptă urâtă; dar n-ai cum să-l învinuieşti şi nu ştii dacă trebuie să-l plângi ori să-l dojeneşti. E capabil chiar şi de sacrificii. Şi încă ce sacrificii! Toate astea însă până când vreo nouă şi puternică impresie îi copleşeşte sufletul, atunci iar e în stare să uite de orice, de tot. Aşa mă va uita şi pe mine, dacă nu voi căuta să fiu mereu lângă dânsul. Aşa e firea lui!”
― The Insulted and Humiliated
― The Insulted and Humiliated
“A lame creature, a cripple like myself, has no right to love. How should I, broken, shattered being that I am, be anything but a burden to you, when to myself I am an object of disgust, of loathing. A creature such as I, I know, has no right to love, and certainly no right to be loved. It is for such a creature to creep away into a corner and die and cease to make other people's lives a burden with her presence.”
― Beware of Pity
― Beware of Pity
“Some are perfectly satisfied with what they have; they eat, drink, impregnate their wives, and take life as it comes. Others can never forget that they are being cheated; that life tempts them to struggle by offering them the essence of sex, of beauty, of success; and that she always seems to pay in counterfeit money.”
― The Outsider
― The Outsider
“The bright side of the planet moves toward darkness
And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour,
And for me, now as then, it is too much.
There is too much world.”
― The Separate Notebooks
And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour,
And for me, now as then, it is too much.
There is too much world.”
― The Separate Notebooks
Ramona’s 2025 Year in Books
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