Joking is a barrier between man and the world. Joking is the enemy of love and poetry.
Milan KunderaThe novel is a meditation on existence as seen through the medium of imaginary characters.
Milan KunderaThe great European novel started out as entertainment, and every true novelist is nostalgic for it. In fact, the themes of those great entertainments are terribly serious-think of Cervantes!
Milan KunderaIf our planet has seen some eighty billion people it is difficult to suppose hat every individual has had his or her own repertory of gestures. Arithmetically, it is simply impossible. Without the slightest doubt, there are far fewer gestures in the world than there are individuals. That finding leads us to a shocking conclusion: a gesture is more individual than an individual. We could put it in the form of an aphorism: many people, few gestures.
Milan Kundera