I, too, feel the need to reread the books I have already read," a third reader says, "but at every rereading I seem to be reading a new book, for the first time. Is it I who keep changing and seeing new things of which I was not previously aware? Or is reading a construction that assumes form, assembling a great number of variables, and therefore something that cannot be repeated twice according to the same pattern? Every time I seek to relive the emotion of a previous reading, I experience different and unexpected impressions, and do not find again those of before. At certain moments it seems to me that between one reading and the next there is a progression: in the sense, for example, of penetrating further into the spirit of the text, or of increasing my critical detachment. At other moments, on the contrary, I seem to retain the memory of the readings of a single book one next to another, enthusiastic or cold or hostile, scattered in time without a perspective, without a thread that ties them together. The conclusion I have reached is that reading is an operation without object; or that its true object is itself. The book is an accessory aid, or even a pretext.

عادت تيريزا إلى النوم من جديد. ولكنه هو لم يستطع النوم. كان يتخيلها ميتة وترى أحلاماً رهيبة. ولم يكن في استطاعته إيقاظها لأنها ميتة. نعم، هذا هو الموت: أن تنام تيريزا وترى أحلاماً فظيعة دون أن يتمكن من إيقاظها.

لا تقاس قيمة كتاب بسعة انتشاره ولا بحفاوة القراء به فحسب، وإنما تقاس - إلى جانب ذلك- بنوعية القراء الذين احتفوا به وتناولوه بالقراءة والاستيعاب، ثم تقاس بعمق الأثر الذي خلفته هذه القراءة في عقولهم وقلوبهم.

لم تكن الروح قادرة على إشاحة بصرها عن شائبة الولادة المستديرة السمراء فوق العانة تماماً؛ كانت الروح ترى في هذه الشائبة ختماً وسمت به الجسد، وكانت تجد أن تحرك عضو غريب على مقربة جداً من هذا الختم المقدس، أمر فيه تجديف.

لا أحد يعرف ذلك بصورة أفضل مما يعرف السياسيون. فما أن يروا آلة تصوير على مقربة منهم حتى يهبُّوا راكضين إثر أول طفل يصادفونه فيحملونه في أذرعتهم ويقبلونه في خده. «الكيتش» هو المثال الأعلى لكل السياسيين ولكل الحركات السياسية.

If the bible be true, God commanded his chosen people to destroy men simply for the crime of defending their native land. They were not allowed to spare trembling and white-haired age, nor dimpled babes clasped in the mothers' arms. They were ordered to kill women, and to pierce, with the sword of war, the unborn child. 'Our heavenly Father' commanded the Hebrews to kill the men and women, the fathers, sons and brothers, but to preserve the girls alive. Why were not the maidens also killed? Why were they spared? Read the thirty-first chapter of Numbers, and you will find that the maidens were given to the soldiers and the priests. Is there, in all the history of war, a more infamous thing than this? Is it possible that God permitted the violets of modesty, that grow and shed their perfume in the maiden's heart, to be trampled beneath the brutal feet of lust? If this was the order of God, what, under the same circumstances, would have been the command of a devil? When, in this age of the world, a woman, a wife, a mother, reads this record, she should, with scorn and loathing, throw the book away. A general, who now should make such an order, giving over to massacre and rapine a conquered people, would be held in execration by the whole civilized world. Yet, if the bible be true, the supreme and infinite God was once a savage.

فكّر توماس: إن مضاجعة امرأة والنوم معها رغبتان ليستا مختلفتين فحسب بل متناقضتان أيضاً. فالحب لا يتجلى بالرغبة في ممارسة الجنس (وهذه الرغبة تنطبق على جملة لا تحصى من النساء) ولكن بالرغبة في النوم المشترك (وهذه الرغبة لا تخصّ إلا امرأة واحدة).

If the people of Europe had known as much of astronomy and geology when the bible was introduced among them, as they do now, there never could have been one believer in the doctrine of inspiration. If the writers of the various parts of the bible had known as much about the sciences as is now known by every intelligent man, the book never could have been written. It was produced by ignorance, and has been believed and defended by its author. It has lost power in the proportion that man has gained knowledge. A few years ago, this book was appealed to in the settlement of all scientific questions; but now, even the clergy confess that in such matters, it has ceased to speak with the voice of authority. For the establishment of facts, the word of man is now considered far better than the word of God. In the world of science, Jehovah was superseded by Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler. All that God told Moses, admitting the entire account to be true, is dust and ashes compared to the discoveries of Descartes, Laplace, and Humboldt. In matters of fact, the bible has ceased to be regarded as a standard. Science has succeeded in breaking the chains of theology. A few years ago, Science endeavored to show that it was not inconsistent with the bible. The tables have been turned, and now, Religion is endeavoring to prove that the bible is not inconsistent with Science. The standard has been changed.

بإمكان الكوكب أن يتهاوى على أثر تفجير القنابل. ويمكن للوطن أن ينهبه كل يوم مختلس جديد، ويمكن لسكان الحي جميعهم أن يُساقوا إلى كتيبة الإعدام. يمكنه أن يتحمل كل هذا بسهولة أكبر مما يجرؤ على القول، ولكنه غير قادر على تحمل الحزن الذي يسببه حلم واحد من أحلام تيريزا.

Did somebody die?”“Yes,” I replied.“Who?” he asked, starting to freak out. I pulled out my notepad and asked him if he knew a Marcie Tucker. “Marcie? Hm, Marcie, it doesn't ring a bell but… Oh yeah, the temp who's filling in while my regular assistant is out, I think her name is Marcie. In fact, she was supposed to be here today. I was actually starting to worry that… Wait. Is she…”“Unfortunately yes,” I said, “Marcie was found in her apartment late last night uh… no longer alive.” My bedside manner has never been my strong suit.Dr. Taggart looked distressed and began to ramble incoherently for a minute. I let him work through it though, I figured it was his way of grieving. I wouldn't have even paid attention to it except for the fact that it was kind of goofily, ineptly… well, poignant:"Oh, uh, Oh my God. That's terrible. I uh… I hope she didn't have any family. I mean, I don't hope she didn't have any family, what I mean is, if she uh… if she didn't have any family then there would be nobody to get all bummed out about this and uh… you know, when something like this happens, you always think about the poor, heartbroken family, so uh… if she doesn't have any family then uh… the bright side would be that nobody would, you know, have to be all bummed out."Hm. I guess I never thought of it that way. Awkward wording aside, he's kind of got a point there.

يبدو أن في الدماغ منطقة خاصة تماماً ويمكن تسميتها بـ«الذاكرة الشعرية»، وهي التي تسجّل كل الأشياء التي سحرتنا أو التي جعلتنا ننفعل أمامها، وكل ما يعطي لحياتنا جمالها. مذ تعرّف توماس إلى تيريزا، لم يعد لأي امرأة الحق في أن تترك أثراً ولو عابراً في هذه المنطقة من دماغه.

Ce te înnebunește nu vine din tine. Nici din mintea, nici din sufletul tău. Ce te înnebunește te înconjoară. Rigiditatea. O rigiditate care te apasă, te sufocă și te mistuie între cer și pământ. Între est și vest. Între lumină și întuneric. Între profan și sfânt. Limite. Mintea ta este vie și mai presus de propria-i viață este nelimitată. Asta dacă nu o pui într-o cutie ca o casă cu pereți de beton fără ferestre sau... ca o lume a regulilor. Nebunia vine din limitarea minții tale. A vieții tale. Încătușarea propriei tale existențe. Este o consecință, nimic mai mult. Nebunia nu poate supraviețui în libertate, doar în cutii. În cutii ca acestea în care suntem cu toții, ca într-un gigant cub rubik. Nebunia este gândirea dincolo de limite iar nebunii sunt cei care reușesc să evadeze din cutii. Restul, prizonierii, sunt normali, acceptați și mai mult decât atât... sunt atotștiutori fără a ști defapt nimic. Totul este pe dos. Toată logica societății este irațională, falsă, nebună! Normalitatea nu se definește prin mulțimi ci prin indivizi, prin universurile individuale create cu atâta migală de universul desăvârșit.", Răspunsul Întunericului de Irina Maria Tracy

كان ذلك تلميحاً إلى العبارة الموسيقية الأخيرة من رباعية بيتهوڤن الأخيرة التي تتألف من هاتين الفكرتين:أليس من ذلك بدُّ؟ليس من ذلك بدّ.ولكي يكون معنى هذه الكلمات واضحاً جلياً، دوّن بيتهوڤن في مطلع العبارة الموسيقية الأخيرة الكلمات التالية: «القرار الموزون بخطورة».

تجاوزت مدة التمثيلية المرتجلة الحدود. كان فرانز يجد أن هذه الملهاة (التي كان يقرّ بأنها ساحرة على كل حال) قد طالت أكثر من اللازم. فأمسك القبعة الرجالية بين أصبعيه وانتزعها عن رأس سابينا وهو يبتسم، ثم علقها فوق القاعدة. . كان الأمر كمن يمحو شاربين رسمهما ولد عفريت على صورة مريم العذراء.

يا أيها الأغنياء المترفون، اذكروا أن في الاأرض من إخوانكم، من أبناء أبيكم آددم، وأمكم حواء، من لا يجد في هذا البرد الذي يجمد النفوس دثاراً من الصوف يتدثر به، وغرفة محكمة يأوي إليها، وناراً موقودة يتدفأ بها، ومن لا يعرف من أين يأتي بالمال الذي يشتري به الخبز يسد به جوعه، والدواء يدفع به مرضه ...