Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kunderais a Czech-born writer who went into exile in France in 1975, and became a naturalised French citizen in 1981. He "sees himself as a French writer and insists his work should be studied as French literature and classified as such in book stores"...
NationalityCzechoslovakian
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth1 April 1929
lying chaos unbearable-lightness-of-being
On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth.
strong hurt unbearable
But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.
home mind unbearable
In the mind of a woman for whom no place is home the thought of an end to all flight is unbearable.
love-is half unbearable
Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.
unhappy-person unbearable life-is
A person who longs to leave the place where he lives is an unhappy person.
ideas empires unbearable
loves are like empires: when the idea they are founded on crumbles, they, too, fade away.
perfect want unbearable-lightness-of-being
We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.
giving unbearable birth
Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.
unbearable metaphor dangerous
Metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with.
giving unbearable birth
A single metaphor can give birth to love.
strong overwhelming-desire unbearable-lightness-of-being
She had an overwhelming desire to tell him, like the most banal of women. Don't let me go, hold me tight, make me your plaything, your slave, be strong! But they were words she could not say. The only thing she said when he released her from his embrace was, "You don't know how happy I am to be with you." That was the most her reserved nature allowed her to express.
animal compassion unbearable-lightness-of-being
True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.
rehearsal firsts unbearable
And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?
mean use unbearable-lightness-of-being
Why don't you ever use your strength on me?" she said. Because love means renouncing strength," said Franz softly.