ـ «میدونستم.» ـ «تو که منو میشناسی کارلو. میدونی که تخصص من فرهنگ بوده و هست.» ـ «البته، اینو که گفته بودی.» ـ «انسانیت بدون فرهنگ چی میشه، کارلو؟ میشه یه تودهی بیهویت که پول براش تنها فرق بین آدماس. تو پولدار و من فقیر، تو که صدقه میدی و من که صدقه میگیرم. ولی خوشبختانه یه چیزی هم به اسم فرهنگ وجود داره.» ـ «بله. خوشبختانه.»...
Alberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle, was one of the leading Italian novelists of the twentieth century whose novels explore matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism. He was also a journalist, playwright, essayist and film critic. Moravia was an atheist, his writing was marked by its factual, cold, precise style, often depicting the malaise of the bourgeoisie, underpinned by high social and cultural awareness. Moravia believed that writers must, if they were to represent reality, assume a moral position, a clearly conceived political, social, and philosophical attitude, but also that, ultimately, "A writer survives in spite of his beliefs".