Will power is only the tensile strength of one's own disposition. One cannot increase it by a single ounce.
Cesare PaveseThe closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped.
Cesare PaveseWriting is a fine thing, because it combines the two pleasures of talking to yourself and talking to a crowd.
Cesare PaveseThe art of living is the art of knowing how to believe lies. The fearful thing about it is that, not knowing what truth may be, we can still recognize lies.
Cesare PaveseSuffering is by no means a privilege, a sign of nobility, a reminder of God. Suffering is a fierce, bestial thing, commonplace, uncalled for, natural as air. It is intangible; no one can grasp it or fight against it; it dwells in time - is the same thing as time; if it comes in fits and starts, that is only so as to leave the sufferer more defenseless during the moments that follow, those long moments when one relives the last bout of torture and waits for the next.
Cesare Pavese