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Quote by Italo Calvino

“No, writing has not changed me for the better at all; I have merely used up part of my restless, conscienceless youth. What value to me will these discontented pages be? The book, the vow, are worth no more than one is worth oneself. One can never be sure of saving one's soul by writing. One may go writing on and on with a soul already lost.”

Quote by Italo Calvino

Book:Our Ancestors
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Our Ancestors

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Author

Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino

Italian writer and journalist, known for his unique narrative style and rich imagination. Calvino is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, whose works have had a profound impact on literature both in Italy and around the world. more

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“Ludmilla, now you are being read. Your body is being subjected to a systematic reading, through channels of tactile information, visual, olfactory, and not without some intervention of the taste buds. Hearing also has its role, alert to your gasps and your trills. It is not only the body that is, in you, the object of raeding: the body matters insofar as it is part of a complex of elaborate elements, not all visible and not all present, but manifested in visible and present events: the clouding of your eyes, your laughing, the words you speak, your way of gathering and spreading your hair, your initiatives and your reticences, and all the signs that are on the frontier between you and usage and habits and memory and prehistory and fashion, all codes, all the poor alphabets by which one human being believes at certain moments that he is reading another human being.”

ReadingItalo Calvino
Book:If on a winter's night a traveler
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“Du hast offenbar die Gewohnheit, mehrere Bücher gleichzeitig zu lesen, dir für die verschiedenen Stunden des Tages verschiedene Lektüren zu wählen. Auch für die verschiedenen Ecken deiner immerhin doch recht kleinen Wohnung: Es gibt Bücher für deinen Nachtisch, andere finden ihren Platz neben dem Sessel, in der Küche oder im Bad. Dies könnte ein wichtiger Zug sein zur Ergänzung deines Porträts: Dein Geist hat innere Wände, mit denen du verschiedene Zeiten voneinander abtrennen kannst, um darin je nachdem innezuhalten oder vorwärtszustürmen und dich abwechselnd auf verschiedene Kanäle zu konzentrieren. Genügt das bereits, um sagen zu können, daß du gern mehrere Leben gleichzeitig leben würdest? Oder sie gar schon lebst? Daß du dein Leben mit einer Person oder in einer bestimmten Umgebung abtrennst von deinem Leben mit anderen oder woanders? Daß du bei jeder neuen Erfahrung von vornherein eine Enttäuschung mit einkalkulierst, die nicht kompensiert werden kann, es sei denn durch die Summe aller Enttäuschungen?”

LesenItalo CalvinoBibliophilia
Book:If on a winter's night a traveler
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“Başını kaldırırsan, bir aydınlık göreceksin. Başının üzerinde, doğmakta olan gün, göğü aydınlatıyor: Yüzüne esen, yaprakları kımıldatan rüzgârdır. Yeniden dışarıdasın, köpekler havlıyor, kuşlar uyanıyor, renkler yeryüzüne dönüyor, şeyler yeniden uzayı dolduruyor, canlı varlıklar gene yaşam işaretleri veriyorlar. Hiç kuşkusuz, sen de varsın, burada ortada, dört bir yandan yükselen gürültüler kaynaşması içinde, hareketin uğultusu içinde, pistonların vuruşu içinde, çarkların gıcırtısı içinde. Bir yerlerden, toprağın bir kıvrımından şehir uyanıyor, giderek artan çarpma, vurma, gıcırdama sesleriyle. Artık bir gümbürtü, bir uğultu, bir gürleme bütün boşluğu kaplıyor, bütün seslenmeleri, iç çekişleri, hıçkırıkları içinde eritiyor...”

Italo CalvinoJaguar Güneşin AltındaUnder The Jaguar Sun
Book:Under the Jaguar Sun
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