Cesare Pavese
Cesare Pavese
Cesare Pavesewas an Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator. He is widely considered among the major authors of the 20th century in his home country...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth9 September 1908
CountryItaly
believe men suffering
You cannot insult a man more atrociously than by refusing to believe he is suffering .
what-matters suffering world
A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. Others suffer too; so much so that there is nothing in the world but suffering; the problem is simply to keep a clear conscience.
real suffering purpose
But the real, tremendous truth is this: suffering serves no purpose whatever.
suicide choices suffering
To choose a hardship for ourselves is our only defense against that hardship. This is what is meant by accepting suffering. Those who, by their very nature, can suffer completely, utterly, have an advantage. That is how we can disarm the power of suffering, make it our own creation, our own choice; submit to it. A justification for suicide.
long silence suffering
What is to come will emerge only after long suffering, long silence.
art pain suffering
There is an art in taking the whiplash of suffering full in the face, an art you must learn. Let each single attack exhaust itself; pain always makes single attacks, so that its bite may be more intense, more concentrated. And you, while its fangs are implanted and injecting their venom at one spot, do not forget to offer it another place where it can bite you, and so relieve the pain of the first.
lies life memories richness
The richness of life lies in the memories we have forgotten.
lies lies-and-lying life memories remember richness
We do not remember days, we remember moments. The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.
against attacks cunning deceive defense enjoy foresee halt involving literature normal says secret steal watching
Literature is a defense against the attacks of life. It says to life: ''You can't deceive me. I know your habits, foresee and enjoy watching all your reactions, and steal your secret by involving you in cunning obstructions that halt your normal flow.''
men humiliation mourn
When a man mourns for someone who has played him false, it is not for love of her, but for his own humiliation at not having deserved her trust.
people dry should
Maybe it's better like this, better that everything should go up in a blaze of dry grass and that people should begin again.
people heaven way
Anchorites used to ill-treat themselves in the way they did, so that the common people would not begrudge them the beatitude they would enjoy in heaven.
men another-man
When a woman marries she belongs to another man; and when she belongs to another man there is nothing more you can say to her.
children looks fine
There is nothing fine about being a child: it is fine, when we are old, too look back to when we were children .