It is not that things happen to each of us according to his fate, but that he interprets what has happened, if he has power to do so, according to his sense of his own destiny.
CESARE PAVESEThe real affliction of old age is remorse.
More Cesare Pavese Quotes
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But the real, tremendous truth is this: suffering serves no purpose whatever.
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Those philosophers who believe in the absolute logic of truth have never had to discuss it on close terms with a woman.
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A man succeeds in completing a work only when his qualities transcend that work.
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There is something indecent in words .
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Many men on the point of an edifying death would be furious if they were suddenly restored to health.
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Death is repose, but the thought of death disturbs all repose.
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The only joy in the world is to begin.
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It’s pointless to cry. One is born and dies alone.
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You’ve got to understand life, understand it when you’re young.
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The only way to escape the abyss is to look at it, gauge it, sound it out and descend into it.
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A man is never completely alone in this world. At the worst, he has the company of a boy, a youth, and by and by a grown man – the one he used to be.
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The man of action is not the headstrong fool who rushes into danger with no thought for himself, but the man who puts into practice the things he knows.
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Hate is always a clash between our spirit and someone else’s body.
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Every luxury must be paid for, and everything is a luxury, starting with being in this world.
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Human imagination is immensely poorer than reality.
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Remember, writing poetry is like making love: one will never know whether one’s own pleasure is shared.
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Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involving oneself in a complicated chain of circumstances.
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The search for a new personality is futile; what is fruitful is the interest the old personality can take in new activities.
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To know the world, one must construct it.
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The 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.
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All our “most sacred affections ” are merely prosaic habit.
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No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide.
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You don’t remember days, you remember moments.
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You cannot insult a man more atrociously than by refusing to believe he is suffering .
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Artists are the monks of the bourgeois state.
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Will power is only the tensile strength of one’s own disposition. One cannot increase it by a single ounce.
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