The Madness of the Day Quotes

“To see was terrifying, and to stop seeing tore me apart from my forehead to my throat.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“A story? No. No stories, never again.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“But my silence is real. If I hid it from you, you would find it again a little farther on.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“As reason returned to me, memory came with it, and I saw that even on the worst days, when I thought I was utterly and completely miserable, I was nevertheless, and nearly all the time, extremely happy. That gave me something to think about. The discovery was not a pleasant one. It seemed to me that I was losing a great deal. I asked myself, wasn't I sad, hadn't I felt my life breaking up? Yes, that had been true; but each minute, when I stayed without moving in a corner of the room, the cool of the night and the stability of the ground made me breathe and rest on gladness.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“I wanted to see something in full daylight; I was sated with the pleasure and comfort of the half light; I had the same desire for the daylight as for water and air. And if seeing was fire, I required the plenitude of fire, and if seeing would infect me with madness, I madly wanted that madness.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“My sense of touch was floating six feet away from me; if anyone entered my room, I would cry out, but the knife was serenely cutting me up. Yes, I became a skeleton. At night my thinness would rise up before me to terrify me. As it came and went it insulted me, it tired me out; oh, I was certainly very tired.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“They who were so important, who wanted to create the world, are dumbfounded; everything crumbles.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day

“Yet I have met people who have never said to life, "Quiet!", who have never said to
death, "Go away!" Almost always women, beautiful creatures. Men are assaulted by
terror, the night breaks through them.”
― Maurice Blanchot, The Madness of the Day