Status Updates From Los días del Cáucaso

That was where I felt most Muslim: in a place dedicated to peace I do not like crosses, rich, overblown mausoleums and flowers. I like simplicity in death - I like the ascetic appearance of a Muslim cemetery.

All life that is, by definition cannot be different. An act is never down to chance but to the mysterious logic of all existence. If I do something, it's because I cannot do otherwise.

Useful people are rare.

Now I understood that things, people, feelings were destined to disappear one after the other; that instead of happiness life was separation and regret; that at every moment something escaped from us, fell away irrevocably, and this is how it would be my whole life long.

To my mind, the definition of childhood is very simple: belief in stability and the goodness of the world. Take away that belief, and childhood comes to an end.

When one 'wants to live one's life' nothing gets in the way more than a husband - any woman will confirm this.

Their "manias" were probably OCD. Trichotillomania - hair-pulling disorder.

Who can tell the importance of dreaming? And of reading!

That memorable summer I was obsessed with dreaming - an obsession, moreover, that has never left me. I sought solitude so I could dream in peace; only in this escape from the tedium of daily life could I be sure of finding happiness, independent of everyone and everything.