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Primo Levi

Primo Levi Quotes

Chemist

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Famous Primo Levi Quotes

“But many, many stories were told; from what could be gathered, all fifty of the mine's inhabitants had reacted on each other, two by two, as in combinatorial analysis, that is to say, everyone with all the others, and especially every man with all the women, old maids or married, and every woman with all the men. All I had to do was to select two names at random, better if different sex, and ask a third person, "What happened with those two?" and lo and behold, a splendid story was unfolded for me, since everyone knew the story of everyone else.”

IfsMenPersonsTwoDifferentStoriesAsksNamesSexHappenedMinesHe ManMarriedThirdsMathematicsEvery ManAnalysisFiftySplendidSelectMaidsThird PersonOld Maids
Author:Primo Levi
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“In order for the wheel to turn, for life to be lived, impurities are needed, and the impurities of impurities in the soil, too, as is known, if it is to be fertile. Dissension, diversity, the grain of salt and mustard are needed: Fascism does not want them, forbids them, and that's why you're not a Fascist; it wants everybody to be the same, and you are not. But immaculate virtue does not exist either, or if it exists it is detestable.”

IfsWantDoeOrderTurnsGrowthKnownVirtueNeededDiversityEthicsWheelsSoilFascismSaltGrainFascistsFertileImpurityMustardEither OrImmaculateDissensionGrain Of Salt
Book:The periodic table
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“It is neither easy nor agreeable to dredge this abyss of viciousness, and yet I think it must be done, because what could be perpetrated yesterday could be attempted again tomorrow, could overwhelm us and our children. One is tempted to turn away with a grimace and close one's mind: this is a temptation one must resist. In fact, the existence of the death squads had a meaning, a message: 'We, the master race, are your destroyers, but you are no better than we are; if we so wish, and we do so wish, we can destroy not only your bodies, but also your souls, just as we have destroyed ours.”

IfsThinkingMindChildrenSoulDoneFactsBodyTurnsWishEasyRaceExistenceMastersTomorrowMessagesOur ChildrenYour BodyYesterdayTemptationDestroyedYour SoulAbyssTemptedDestroyersSquadGrimace
Author:Primo Levi
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“The butterfly's attractiveness derives not only from colors and symmetry: deeper motives contribute to it. We would not think them so beautiful if they did not fly, or if they flew straight and briskly like bees, or if they stung, or above all if they did not enact the perturbing mystery of metamorphosis: the latter assumes in our eyes the value of a badly decoded message, a symbol, a sign.”

IfsThinkingEyeBeautifulValuesMysteryColorMessagesAssumingDeeperSymbolsMotiveLatterButterflyBeesFlewMetamorphosisSymmetryAttractivenessLike A ButterflyMonarch ButterflyBeautiful Butterfly
Author:Primo Levi
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