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A mismatched outfit, a slightly defective denture, an exquisite mediocrity of the soul-those are the details that make a woman real, alive. The women you see on posters or in fashion magazines-the ones all the women try to imitate nowadays-how can they be attractive? They have no reality of their own; they're just the sum of a set of abstract rules. They aren't born of human bodies; they hatch ready-made from the computers
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
by Milan Kundera
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The quote emphasizes that it is the imperfections and unique attributes of a woman that truly bring her to life and make her authentic. A mismatched outfit or a flawed smile adds character and depth that reflect her individuality. In contrast to those women portrayed in magazines and advertisements, who adhere to unrealistic standards of beauty, real women exhibit a richness that comes from their lived experiences and personal quirks.

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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
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Milan Kundera
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Other quotes in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

She refused at first, saying it would make a mockery of their love. She loved him too much to admit that what she thought of as unforgettable could ever be forgotten. Finally, of course, she did as he asked, but without enthusiasm. The notebooks showed it: they had many empty pages, and the entries were fragmentary.
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
She refused at first, saying it would make a mockery of their love. She loved him too much to admit that what she thought of as unforgettable could ever be forgotten. Finally, of course, she did as he asked, but without enthusiasm. The notebooks showed it: they had many empty pages, and the entries were fragmentary.
Or take an instance from the student's childhood: His parents made him take violin lessons. He was not very gifted and his teacher would interrupt him to criticize his mistakes in a cold, unbearable voice. He felt humiliated, and he wanted to cry. But instead of trying to play in tune and not make mistakes, he would deliberately play wrong notes, the teacher's voice would become still more unbearable and harsh, and he himself would sink deeper and deeper into his litost.What then is litost?Litost is a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery.
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Or take an instance from the student's childhood: His parents made him take violin lessons. He was not very gifted and his teacher would interrupt him to criticize his mistakes in a cold, unbearable voice. He felt humiliated, and he wanted to cry. But instead of trying to play in tune and not make mistakes, he would deliberately play wrong notes, the teacher's voice would become still more unbearable and harsh, and he himself would sink deeper and deeper into his litost.What then is litost?Litost is a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one's own misery.
When he asked her why she was so silent, she told him she had not been satisfied with their lovemaking. She said he had made love to her like an intellectual.
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
When he asked her why she was so silent, she told him she had not been satisfied with their lovemaking. She said he had made love to her like an intellectual.
You must understand that by this time the only choice was among several varieties of defeat, but the town in question rejected compromise and would settle for nothing but victory. That was not reason talking; that was the voice of litost!
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
You must understand that by this time the only choice was among several varieties of defeat, but the town in question rejected compromise and would settle for nothing but victory. That was not reason talking; that was the voice of litost!
The peoples are liquidated so that they are first taken away from their memory. They are destroyed by books, education, history. Someone else writes other books to them, to make another education and invent another history. And the people then gradually begin to forget what he was and what he is now, and the world around him forgets it much more faster.
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
The peoples are liquidated so that they are first taken away from their memory. They are destroyed by books, education, history. Someone else writes other books to them, to make another education and invent another history. And the people then gradually begin to forget what he was and what he is now, and the world around him forgets it much more faster.
People just want to become a future master to change the past.
Milan Kundera The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
People just want to become a future master to change the past.
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Other quotes in book quote

They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Dorothy Dunnett The Ringed Castle
They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
Dorothy Dunnett The Game of Kings
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
Dorothy Dunnett Gemini
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
Laura Caine Ramsey The Ultimate Guide to Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
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