The basis of the self is not thought but suffering, which is the most fundamental of all feelings. While it suffers, not… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
All novels . . . are concerned with the enigma of the self. As soon as you create an imaginary being, a… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
To ensure that the self doesn't shrink, to see that it holds on to its volume, memories have to be watered like… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
Remembering our past, carrying it around with us always, may be the necessary requirement for maintaining, as they say, the wholeness of… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
But was it love? The feeling of wanting to die beside her was clearly exaggerated: he had seen her only once before… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“Who was the real me? I can only repeat: I was a man of many faces. At meetings I was earnest, enthusiastic,… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
Bacon's portraits are an interrogation on the limits of the self. Up to what degree of distortion does an individual still remain… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
Living, there is no happiness in that. Living: carrying one’s painful self through the world. But being, being is happiness. Being: Becoming… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
The difference between the university graduate and the autodidact lies not so much in the extent of knowledge as in the extent… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
I am not worthy of my suffering. A great sentence. It suggests not only that suffering is the basis of the self,… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
Tell me, where in life is there a value that would make us consider suicide uncalled for on principle! Love? Or friendship?… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
The serial number of a human specimen is the face, that accidental and unrepeatable combination of features. It reflects neither character nor… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“From that time on they both looked forward to sleeping together. I might even say that the goal of their lovemaking was not so… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
The beauty of New York is unintentional; it arose independent of human design, like a stalagmite cavern. — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
Children, Never look Back!" and this meant that we must never allow the future to be weighed down by memory . for children have… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“Our lives may be separate, but they run in the same direction, like parallel lines.” — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“Having a child is to show an absolute accord with mankind. If I have a child, it's as though I'm saying: I was born… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
Love is a battle," said Marie-Claude, still smiling. "And I plan to go on fighting. To the end." Love is a battle?" said Franz.… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“He remained annoyed with himself until he realized that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural. We can never know what to… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
“Do stories, apart from happening, being, have something to say? For all my skepticism, some trace of irrational superstition did survive in me, the… — Milan Kundera Copy Share Image
