Juan Manuel

“I am a free man—and I need my freedom. I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion; I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company. What do you want of me? When I have something to say, I put it in print. When I have something to give, I give it. Your prying curiosity turns my stomach! Your compliments humiliate me! Your tea poisons me! I owe nothing to any one. I would be responsible to God alone—if He existed!”
― Giovanni Papini, Un uomo finito

“Por mucho valor, sangre fría y humor que uno acumule a lo largo de su vida, siempre acaba con el corazón destrozado. Y entonces uno deja de reírse. A fin de cuentas ya sólo quedan la soledad, el frío y el silencio. A fin de cuentas, sólo queda la muerte.”
― Michel Houellebecq, The Elementary Particles

“The greatest thing about provable reality is that by definition reality is shared. Every argument is really an agreement—an agreement that there is a reality that can be shared, judged, and discussed. To argue over whether the speed of light is constant or Batman could beat up the Lone Ranger is to share the parameters. God is solipsistic; reality is shared.”
― Penn Jillette, God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

“At this point a sharp realization burned within me: each man has his “function” but none which he can choose himself, define, or perform as he pleases. It was wrong to desire new gods, completely wrong to want to provide the world with something. An enlightened man had but one duty—to seek the way to himself, to reach inner certainty, to grope his way forward, no matter where it led.”
― Hermann Hesse, Demian: Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend