High culture is nothing but a child of that European perversion called history, the obsession we have with going forward, with considering the sequence of generations a relay race in which everyone surpasses his predecessor, only to be surpassed by his successor. Without this relay race called history there would be no European art and what characterizes it: a longing for originality, a longing for change. Robespierre, Napoleon, Beethoven, Stalin, Picasso, they're all runners in the relay race, they all belong to the same stadium.
Milan KunderaWhen a private talk over a bottle of wine is broadcast on the radio, what can it mean but that the world is turning into a concentration camp?
Milan KunderaWithout the meditative background that is criticism, works become isolated gestures, historical accidents, soon forgotten.
Milan KunderaExtremism means borders beyond which life ends, and a passion for extremism, in art and in politics, is a veiled longing for death.
Milan KunderaLiving for Sabina meant seeing. Seeing is limited by two borders: strong light, which blinds, and total darkness. Perhaps that was what motivated Sabina's distaste for all extremism. Extremes mean borders beyond which life ends, and a passion for extremism, in art and in politics, is a veiled longing for death.
Milan Kundera