The Prague Cemetery Quotes

“People are never so completely and enthusiastically evil as when they act out of religious conviction.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Someone said that patriotism is the last refuge of cowards; those without moral principles usually wrap a flag around themselves, and those bastards always talk about the purity of race.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“National identity is the last bastion of the dispossessed. But the meaning of identity is now based on hatred, on hatred for those who are not the same.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Listening doesn't mean trying to understand. Anything, however trifling, may be of use one day. What matters is to know something that others don't know you know.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“A mystic is a hysteric who has met her confessor before her doctor.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“You always want someone to hate in order to feel justified in your own misery. Hatred is the true primordial passion. It is love that’s abnormal. That is why Christ was killed: he spoke against nature. You don’t love someone for your whole life - that impossible hope is the source of adultery, matricide, betrayal of friends … But you can hate someone for your whole life - provided he’s always there to keep your hatred alive. Hatred warms the heart.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Libraries are fascinating places; sometimes you feel you are under the canopy of a railway station, and when you read books about exotic places there's a feeling of traveling to distant lands.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“For the enemy to be recognized and feared, he has to be in your home or on your doorstep.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Man's principle trait is a readiness to believe anything. Otherwise, how could the Church have survived for almost two thousand years in the absense of universal gullibility?”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“What does the philosopher say? Odi ergo sum. I hate therefore I am.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“You cannot change the world with ideas. People with few ideas are less likely to make mistakes; they follow what everyone else does and are no trouble to anyone; they're successful, make money, find good jobs, enter politics, receive honours; they become famous writers, academics, journalists. Can anyone who is so good at looking after their own interests really be stupid? I'm the stupid one, the one who wanted to go tilting at windmills.”
― Umberto Eco , The Prague Cemetery

“Бібліотеки — то неймовірна штука: часом здається, ніби стоїш на вокзальній платформі і, читаючи з книжкових сторінок про екзотичні місця, подорожуєш далекими країнами.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“It takes a little time, but the pleasures of cooking begin before the pleasures of the palate, and preparing means anticipating ...”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Öyle bir an geliyor ki,insanın içinde bir şeyler kırılıyor;ne enerji ne istek kalıyor. Yaşamak gerekir diyorlar ama yaşamak son vadede intihara sürükleyen bir sorun”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“But Paris, all in all, isn't what it used o be, ever since that pencil sharpener, the Eiffel Tower, has been sticking up in the distance, visible from every angle.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“With Germans, as with women, you never get to the point.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“When a spy sells something entirely new, all he needs to do is recount something you could find in any second-hand book stall.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“But the meaning of identity is now based on hatred, on hatred for those who are not the same. Hatred has to be cultivated as a civic passion. The enemy is the friend of the people. You always want someone to hate in order to feel justified in your own misery.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Tất cả mọi thứ, kể cả có vẻ tầm phào, một ngày nào đó cũng có thể trở nên hữu ích. Điều quan trọng là biết được điều mà người khác không biết là bạn biết.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Es necesario un enemigo para darle al pueblo una esperanza. Alguien ha dicho que el patriotismo es el último refugio de los canallas: los que no tienen principios morales se suelen envolver en una bandera, y los bastardos se remiten siempre a la pureza de su raza. La identidad nacional es el último recurso para los desheredados. Ahora bien, el sentimiento de la identidad se funda en el odio, en el odio hacia los que no son idénticos. Hay que cultivar el odio como pasión civil. El enemigo es el amigo de los pueblos. Hace falta alguien a quien odiar para sentirse justificados en la propia miseria.”
― Umberto Eco, El cementerio de Praga

“E nevoie de un dușman ca să-i dai poporului o speranță. Cineva a spus că patriotismul e ultimul refugiu al canaliilor: cine nu are principii morale se înfășoară de obicei într-un steag, iar bastarzii fac întotdeauna apel la puritatea stirpei lor. Identitatea națională este ultima resursă a dezmoșteniților. Or, simțul identității se întemeiază pe ură, ura împotriva celui ce nu-i identic. Trebuie să cultivi ura ca patos cetățenesc. Dușmanul e prietenul popoarelor. E nevoie oricând de cineva demn de a fi urât ca să te simți justificat în propria-ți mizerie. Ura este adevărata pasiune primordială. Iubirea reprezintă o situație anormală.”
― Umberto Eco, Il cimitero di Praga

“A te închipui un element necesar în ordinea universului echivalează, pentru noi, oamenii cu lecturi serioase, cu ceea ce e superstiția pentru analfabeți. Nu se schimbă lumea cu ideile. Persoanele cu puține idei sunt mai puțin supuse erorii, se iau după ceea ce fac toți și nu deranjează pe nimeni, și reușesc, se îmbogățesc, ajung la poziții solide, deputați, oameni cu decorații, oameni de litere renumiți, academicieni, jurnaliști. Poți să mai fii nerod când îți faci așa de bine propriile afaceri? Prostul sunt eu, care am vrut să mă bat cu morile de vânt.”
― Umberto Eco, Il cimitero di Praga

“Über die deutsche Sprache: „Sie halten sich für tief, weil ihre Sprache unklar ist, ihr fehlt die clarté der französischen Sprache, sie sagt nie exakt das, was sie sollte, so dass kein Deutscher jemals weiß, was er sagen wollte – und dann verwechselt er diese Undeutlichkeit mit Tiefe. Es ist mit Deutschen wie mit Frauen, man gelangt bei ihnen nie auf den Grund”
― Umberto Eco, Il cimitero di Praga

“Qualcuno ha detto che il patriottismo è l'ultimo rifugio delle canaglie: chi non ha principi morali si avvolge di solito in una bandiera, e i bastardi si richiamano sempre alla purezza della loro razza. L'identità nazionale è l'ultima risorsa dei diseredati. Ora il senso dell'identità si fonda sull'odio, sull'odio per chi non è identico. Bisogna coltivare l'odio come passione civile. Il nemico è l'amico dei popoli. Ci vuole sempre qualcuno da odiare per sentirsi giustificati nella propria miseria. L'odio è la vera passione primordiale. È l'amore che è una situazione anomala.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Not that he felt any particular love for himself, but his dislike of others induced him to make the best of his own company.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“Os homens nunca praticam o mal tão completa e entusiasticamente como quando o fazem por convicção religiosa.”
― Umberto Eco, Il cimitero di Praga

“Hastalandığımda kendimi senin ellerine teslim edeyim; sana bilmediklerim dahil hakkımda her şeyi anlatayım ve sen benim ruhumun efendisi ol, ister miydin?”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“For the enemy to be recognized and feared, he has to be in your home or on your doorstep. Hence the Jews. Divine providence has given them to us, and so, by God, let us use them, and pray there’s always some Jew to fear and to hate. We need an enemy to give people hope.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“I hated my mother who had gone without telling me, I hated my father who had done nothing to stop her, I hated God because he had willed such a thing to happen, and I hated my grandfather because he thought it normal for God to will such things.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery

“I never liked writing concluding paragraphs to papers where you just repeat what you've already said with phrases like 'In summation' and 'To conclude'.”
― Umberto Eco, The Prague Cemetery