Kairos Quotes

“Coca-Cola has succeeded, where Marxist philosophy has failed, at uniting the proletarians of all nations under its banner.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Discipline must be at least as powerful as the desire to lose it.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“What would a girl do with a book about death and dying?”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Kairos, the god of fortunate moments, is supposed to have a lock of hair on his forehead, which is the only way of grasping hold of him. Because once the god has slipped past on his winged feet, the back of his head is sleek and hairless, nowhere to grab hold of.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Strange, she thinks, all these years a little bit of my life has gone on existing in this stranger’s head. And now he’s given it back to me.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“On asioita, joita kumpikin muistaa, osan on jompikumpi unohtanut, osaa toinen ei ollut pannut merkille ja osaa sitten taas ei toinen, osaa vain toinen oli silloin ajatellut, muttei ollut sanonut mitään, osaa ei taas ollut sanonut toinen, ja niin se, mikä vasta kolme viikkoa sitten oli senhetkistä, kasvaa tuona iltapäivänä kasvamistaan, muuttuu, mutta säilyttää kuitenkin ääriviivansa, josta kumpikin tunnistaa sen.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“A week ago, she didn’t exist, at least not in his world. A week ago, nothing existed in this city that was capable of leaving him so forlorn. But now she’s left him, and for a whole week. He has work to do, but can think of nothing but her. Even though he doesn’t really know anything about her.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Y de pronto su amor era tan grande como solo lo puede ser el amor hacia algo que amenaza con perderse.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“She would like a shallow life, swift and shallow, till some day she can start again. Get through her time fast until then. And when will that be? Then.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“What will history’s verdict be about our time?”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“She’s self-critical, he thinks, but that leads to her not making the most of herself.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“The dead go trembling up to heaven, while the two human bodies turn themselves into landscapes that may not be seen, only grasped, contours tracked with innumerable paths, where one may not run away;”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Hij heeft haar voorzien van alles waarbij hij zich thuis voelt. Bach, Beethoven, Brecht, Busch, Chopin, Eisler, Giotto, Goy, Grünewald, Hacks, Kafka, Lenin, Thomas Mann, Marx, Mozart, Neher, Steinberg, Verdi, Robert Walser.
In alfabetische volgorde.
Orde is angst voor wanorde. Dus angst.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Nemoguće je biti iskren, a nemati slobodu reći: ne.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“En los museos, piensa, solo se expone aquello que ya no encuentra asilo en la realidad.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“No hay trabajo práctico más hermoso que aquel cuyo significado trasciende la acción.”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“He is old enough to know how the end likes to set its roots first imperceptibly, then ever more boldly, in the present”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“Did you know that there was a belief among the ancient Greeks that at night the sun wandered from West to East under the earth, from one side to the other, right across the underworld, before surfacing the next morning? No, Katharina hadn’t known that either, and she imagines a dull, yellowish light slipping through clumps of soil, unremarked and unappreciated by anyone”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos

“With her eyes, which in this other half of the city are a stranger’s eyes, she sees how every conceivable need is catered for by some product or other in the shops, the freedom to consume seems like an India rubber wall to her, separating people from any yearnings that might transcend their personal and momentary wishes. Is she about to be another customer?”
― Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos