Death With Interruptions

by José Saramago

Nothing is ever perfect, however, for alongside those who laugh, there will always be others who weep, and sometimes, as in the present case, for the self-same

same reasons.

acceptance that death was fundamental to the existence of the kingdom of god

Because philosophy needs death as much as religions do,

sacrificing a few commas to make the couplet work,

One cannot be too careful with words, they change their minds just as people do.

in the ancient land of fables,

Everything that can happen will happen, it’s only a matter of time, and if we don’t get to see it while we’re around, it will be because we didn’t live long enough.

in case you don’t know it, words move, they change from one day to the next, they are as unstable as shadows, are themselves shadows, which both are and have ceased to be, soap bubbles, shells in which one can barely hear a whisper, mere tree stumps,

we know how easily the spirit lets slip the reins of the body when happiness takes

Letters can only go where they’re taken, they don’t have legs or wings, and, as far as we know, they’re not endowed with their own initiative, if they were, we’re sure that they would refuse to carry the terrible news of which they’re so often the bearers.

Death knows everything about us, and that perhaps is why she’s sad.

The case of god is different. However hard he tried, he could never manage to make himself visible to human eyes and not because he can’t, since for him nothing is impossible, it’s simply that he wouldn’t know what face to wear when introducing himself to the beings he supposedly created and who probably wouldn’t recognize him anyway.

We’ve all had our moments of weakness, and if we manage to get through today without any, we’ll be sure to have some tomorrow.

All those words to say the same sad thing, That’s what these people are like, they’re never quite sure what they mean.

that is what art is like, things that seem impossible to the layperson turn out not to be.

The cellist had fallen into one of the least forgivable of human sins, that of presumption, when he thought he could see his face, and his alone, in a portrait in which everyone could be found, a presumption which, however, if we think about it, if we choose not to remain on the surface of things, could equally be interpreted as a manifestation of its polar opposite, that is, of humility, since if it is a portrait of everyone, then I must be included in it too.

poor dictionaries, who have to rule themselves and us only with the words that exist, when there are so many words still missing,

Dissonance also has a role to play in music,

And since the fate of hopes is always to breed more hopes,