--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Milan Kundera was my literature…" description: "\"Milan Kundera was my literature professor. He's a Francophile, so he made us read French novels like 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses,' which I made a version..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/milos-forman-11744_books_milan-kundera-was-my-literature-professo_648672.png" --- # Milan Kundera was my literature professor. He's a… ![“Milan Kundera was my literature professor. He's a Francophile, so he made us read French novels like 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses,' which I made a version of many years later as 'Valmont.'” quote by Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/milos-forman-11744_books_milan-kundera-was-my-literature-professo_648672.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/milos-forman-11744_books_milan-kundera-was-my-literature-professo_648672.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e1/milos-forman-11744_books_milan-kundera-was-my-literature-professo_648672.png) > “Milan Kundera was my literature professor. He's a Francophile, so he made us read French novels like 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses,' which I made a version of many years later as 'Valmont.'” [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes a professor who introduced French literature, leading to a later creative adaptation. **In simple terms:** Professor inspired French novel reading and later adaptation. Key Takeaway Seek inspiration from mentors. Themes education literature adaptation culture Mood intellectual curious Type academic creative When to use this quote - college courses - literary analysis - writing projects Key Concepts Francophilia creative reinterpretation Questions to Reflect On - What did you learn from adapting the novel? - How does cultural background influence interpretation? A Different Perspective Adaptations may diverge from original intent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Milan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/milan/) ## Related quotes > [My favourite authors are Milan Kundera and Jeanette Winterson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paloma-faith/my-favourite-authors-are-milan-kundera-and-jeanette-winterson/) [Paloma Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paloma-faith/) > [Vain Art of the Fugue was the only one of my novels to be met with relative public recognition: it was nominated for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/vain-art-of-the-fugue-was-the-only-one-of-my-novels-to-be-met-with/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [Novels ought to have hope; at least, American novels ought to have hope. French novels don't need to. We mostly win wars, they lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/novels-ought-to-have-hope-at-least-american-novels-ought-to-have-hope/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [French novels generally treat of the relations of women to the world and to lovers, after marriage; consequently there is a great deal in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lafcadio-hearn/french-novels-generally-treat-of-the-relations-of-women-to-the-world/) [Lafcadio Hearn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lafcadio-hearn/) > [“Milan Kundera, the Czech-born writer, has a pithy quote about this in his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being: “Human life occurs only once,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/milan-kundera-the-czech-born-writer-has-a-pithy-quote-about-this-in/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [“It was vertigo. A heady, insuperable longing to fall. We might also call vertigo the intoxication of the weak. Aware of his weakness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/it-was-vertigo-a-heady-insuperable-longing-to-fall-we-might-also-call-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“And so it is that in order to speak of our own times, I have had to make a long detour, by way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/and-so-it-is-that-in-order-to-speak-of-our-own-times-i-have-had-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“There is a certain part of all of us,” Milan Kundera writes, “that lives outside of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-senior/there-is-a-certain-part-of-all-of-us-milan-kundera-writes-that-lives/) [Jennifer Senior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-senior/) > [“Flattery, then, is like the other strategies discussed above in that it should be ineffective; unlike the others, however, it usually works. As Milan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gilovich/flattery-then-is-like-the-other-strategies-discussed-above-in-that-it/) [Thomas Gilovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-gilovich/) > [“Who has not sometimes wondered: suppose I had been born somewhere else, in another country, in another time, what would my life have been?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-w-fuller/who-has-not-sometimes-wondered-suppose-i-had-been-born-somewhere-else/) [Robert W. Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-w-fuller/) > [“Which philosophers would Alain suggest for practical living? Alain’s list overlaps nearly 100% with my own: Epicurus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Plato, Michel de Montaigne,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-ferriss/which-philosophers-would-alain-suggest-for-practical-living-alain-s/) [Timothy Ferriss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-ferriss/) > [“There would seem to be nothing more obvious, more tangible and palpable than the present moment. And yet it eludes us completely. All the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/there-would-seem-to-be-nothing-more-obvious-more-tangible-and/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [“There is no perfection only life Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness Of Being”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/there-is-no-perfection-only-life-milan-kundera-the-unbearable/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being might suit our moment. Sinclair Lewis’s novel It Can’t Happen Here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/fyodor-dostoevsky-s-the-brothers-karamazov-and-milan-kundera-s-the/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The struggle of man against power is the struggle  of memory against forgetting. —Milan Kundera       A”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-ayyub/the-struggle-of-man-against-power-is-the-struggle-of-memory-against/) Rana Ayyub ## More by Milos Forman > [When I came for the first time to the United States, visiting, I was absolutely fascinated by New York.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/when-i-came-for-the-first-time-to-the-united-states-visiting-i-was/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [I am absolutely against any violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/i-am-absolutely-against-any-violence/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [You think you can do anything, and then you slowly learn how wrong you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/you-think-you-can-do-anything-and-then-you-slowly-learn-how-wrong-you/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [You know what happened, you know, in 1938: France, England, you know, just sold out Czechoslovakia to Hitler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/you-know-what-happened-you-know-in-1938-france-england-you-know-just/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [First of all, to defend my work, I had to believe that I am doing a totally silly, stupid, innocent comedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/first-of-all-to-defend-my-work-i-had-to-believe-that-i-am-doing-a/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [You know, 20 years... the films of television when it started, the literature, radio in communist countries, they're clean as a whistle; there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/you-know-20-years-the-films-of-television-when-it-started-the/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [For me, speaking is work. It's not like when you breathe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/for-me-speaking-is-work-it-s-not-like-when-you-breathe/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [So, thanks God, our films, our first films were suddenly being appreciated by the Western media; especially France was very good, and Switzerland was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/so-thanks-god-our-films-our-first-films-were-suddenly-being/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [I get out of the taxi and it's probably the only city which in reality looks better than on the postcards, New York.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/i-get-out-of-the-taxi-and-it-s-probably-the-only-city-which-in/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [I lived long enough in a society where freedom of speech was nonexistent, and I know what kind of misery that creates - starting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/i-lived-long-enough-in-a-society-where-freedom-of-speech-was/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [Holocaust films will be made and should be made as long as we can't understand what makes people so cruel to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/holocaust-films-will-be-made-and-should-be-made-as-long-as-we-can-t/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [The worst evil is - and that's the product of censorship - is the self-censorship, because that twists spines, that destroys my character because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/the-worst-evil-is-and-that-s-the-product-of-censorship-is-the-self/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [Technically, you can learn everything on the set as an assistant director, and rather quickly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/technically-you-can-learn-everything-on-the-set-as-an-assistant/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [And also they were absolutely brilliant in one way, you know: they knew how effective is not to punish somebody who is guilty; what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/and-also-they-were-absolutely-brilliant-in-one-way-you-know-they-knew/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) > [We have funny ideas about how people in mental institutions act. We think of drooling and people going booga-booga and climbing the wall. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milos-forman/we-have-funny-ideas-about-how-people-in-mental-institutions-act-we/) [Milos Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) [Explore all 58 Milos Forman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milos-forman/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. 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