The Wisdom Letter #103
5 quotes from Milan Kundera (1929–2023)
✹ For today's Wisdom Letter, we have carefully curated five bite-sized quotes from the Czech-French novelist, Milan Kundera (1929–2023).
Quote № 01:
“For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.”
— Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
Quote № 02:
“The moment someone keeps an eye on what we do, we involuntarily make allowances for that eye, and nothing we do is truthful.”
— Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
Quote № 03:
“Anyone whose goal is something higher must expect some day to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? ... No, vertigo is something other than the fear of falling. It is the voice of the emptiness below us which tempts and lures us, it is the desire to fall, against which, terrified, we defend ourselves.”
— Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
Quote № 04:
“In a society run by terror, no statements whatsoever can be taken seriously. They are all forced, and it is the duty of every honest man to ignore them.”
— Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
Quote № 05:
“The only relationship that can make both partners happy is one in which sentimentality has no place and neither partner makes any claim on the life and freedom of the other.”
— Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
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✺ Today’s Questions
Three philosophical questions to foster your curiosity:
Question № 01:
Is fear an essential survival mechanism, or is it a hindrance that limits our potential and freedom?
Question № 02:
What is the role of ideology in totalitarianism? Is it a tool for manipulation and control, or a genuine belief system that guides the regime's actions?
Question № 03:
Can one live a meaningful and moral life without adhering to any religious beliefs, or is religion essential for providing a moral framework?
✽ Thank you for reading today’s Wisdom Letter.
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I like quote #5. It is one of the hardest things to do. We fall in love with someone and , one way or another, we start to tweak those little things in our partner we may have overlooked or willfully ignored that now annoy us. This is rarely well received. So, “for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer etc…etc… “ takes on a new importance.
Definitely agree with quote number 4, it's a great reminder to think through everything thoroughly yourself instead of agreeing or getting agitated by everything we hear.