I Who Have Never Known Men

by Jacqueline Harpman

human beings need to speak, otherwise they lose their humanity, as I’ve realised these past few years.

Sometimes, you can use what you know, but that’s not what counts most. I want to know everything there is to know. Not because it’s any use, but purely for the pleasure of knowing, and now I demand that you teach me everything you know, even if I’ll never be able to use it.

what does having lived mean once you are no longer alive?

The alternation of day and night is merely a physical phenomenon, time is a question of being human