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‘Old age is nature’s self-criticism.’
What music appeals to in us it is difficult to know; what we do know is that music reaches a zone so deep that madness itself cannot penetrate there.
The problem of responsibility would have a meaning only if we had been consulted before our birth and had consented to be precisely who we are.
No autocrat wields a power comparable to that enjoyed by a poor devil planning to kill himself.
Educating yourself not to leave traces is a moment-by-moment war against yourself, solely to prove that you could, if you chose, become a sage …
When I was young, no pleasure compared with the pleasure of making enemies. Now, whenever I make one, my first thought is to be reconciled, so that I won’t have to bother about him. Having enemies is a heavy responsibility. My burden is sufficient, I no longer can carry that of others as well.
Only one thing matters: learning to be the loser.
constitutes
Years now without coffee, without alcohol, without tobacco … Luckily, there is anxiety, which usefully replaces the strongest stimulants.
In the slaughterhouse that morning, I watched the cattle being led to their death. Almost every animal, at the last moment, refused to move forward. To make them do so, a man hit them on the hind legs. This scene often comes to mind when, ejected from sleep, I lack the strength to confront the daily torture of Time.
One cannot live without motives. I have no motives left, and I am living.
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