The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts Quotes

“Large shapes — like wings — float up to her, opening and closing — gently at first — until they slowly fill the room and she has the impression that she is in the presence of apparitions which are not at all related to this world. None of her acquaintances has ever mentioned similar apparitions to her. These beings — she can not describe them in any other way, reveal that they have the clear and frightening intention of encircling her. They exude a feeling of dissipation, of annihilation, and her forgotten childhood fear of the horrible and inexplicable returns to her. Whenever these birdless, greyish-black wings fly up too close to her, she raises her hand in a sudden anxiety and fends them off. They retreat for a moment into the background of the dark room, then approach once again, and slowly she gets used to this strange presence until she notices that the wings are insubstantial and can fly straight through her upright body, as if she herself had become bodiless. This both entrances and appalls her. Looking at them carefully, these creatures have in fact nothing terrifying about them — they lack eyes and faces, and they radiate an enormous dignity, an uncanny seriousness, something very noble.”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“But how long must she sing in the darkness until she is at last allowed out into the light of day?”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“When he actually comes, he brings her a book containing white paper, as if it were a sign of her salvation, and she reads a dedication--something about people who have lost hope but start to swim in the whiteness of these leaves and perhaps find a new beginning with their first pen stroke.”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“Die Freiheit von der Hoffnung ist die vollkommene Freiheit.

The freedom of the hope is complete freedom.”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“What terrible shame overcomes me when I discover the male or female in myself!”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“How good I would feel if I could be something that called itself neither man nor woman.”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“Tras cuarenta y tres años, mi vida aún no se ha convertido en “mi vida”. Podría ser perfectamente la vida de otra. Solo cuando deje de ser la insoportable repetición de los acontecimientos, será mía. Y eso no sucederá hasta mi muerte.”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts

“¿Qué se supone que tengo que hacer con la felicidad después de haberme acomodado tan alegremente en la infelicidad?”
― Unica Zürn, The Man of Jasmine & Other Texts