loves are like empires: when the idea they are founded on crumbles, they, too, fade away.
Milan Kunderawhat's the matter?" he asked "nothing" "what do you want me to do for you?" "i want you to be old. ten years older. twenty years older" what she meant was: i want you to be weak. as weak as i am.
Milan KunderaWhy don't you ever use your strength on me?" she said. Because love means renouncing strength," said Franz softly.
Milan KunderaAt a time when history made its way slowly, the few events were easily remembered and woven into a backdrop, known to everyone, before which private life unfolded the gripping show of its adventures. Nowadays, time moves forward at a rapid pace. Forgotten overnight, a historic event glistens the next day like the morning dew and thus is no longer the backdrop to a narrator's tale but rather an amazing adventure enacted against the background of the over-familiar banality of private life.
Milan Kundera