Fidelity gives a unity to lives that would otherwise splinter into thousands of split-second impressions.

Pain doesn't listen to reason, it has it's own reason, which is not reasonable

Looking out over the courtyard at the dirty walls, he realized he had no idea whether it was hysteria or love.

Cemeteries in Bohemia are like gardens. The graves are covered with grass and colourful flowers. Modest tombstones are lost in the greenery. When the sun goes down, the cemetery sparkles with tiny candles... no matter how brutal life becomes, peace always reigns in the cemetery. Even in wartime, even in Hitler's time, even in Stalin's time.

But man, because he has only one life to live, cannot conduct experiments to test whether to follow his passion (compassion) or not.

This is the real and the only reason for friendship: to provide a mirror so the other person can contemplate his image from the past, which, without the eternal blah-blah of memories between pals, would long ago have disappeared.

When I was a little boy in short pants, I dreamed about a miraculous ointment that would make me invisible. Then I became an adult, began to write, and wanted to be successful. Now I'm successful and would like to have the ointment that would make me invisible.