The Unbearable Lightness of Being

by Milan Kundera

The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life’s most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.

He remained annoyed with himself until he realized that not knowing what he wanted was actually quite natural. We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.

the transformation of music into noise was a planetary process by which mankind was entering the historical phase of total ugliness.

“Punishing people who don’t know what they’ve done is barbaric.”