I didn't go to the lectures. My valet, who was more distinguished than I, went instead. Witold Gombrowicz More Quotes by Witold Gombrowicz More Quotes From Witold Gombrowicz Don't be fooled by your own wisdom Witold Gombrowicz fooled To me, art almost always speaks more forcefully when it appears in an imperfect, accidental, and fragmentary way, somehow just signaling its presence, allowing one to feel it through the ineptitude of the interpretation. I prefer the Chopin that reaches me in the street from an open window to the Chopin served in great style from the concert stage. Witold Gombrowicz ineptitudestyleart Serious literature does not exist to make life easy but to complicate it. Witold Gombrowicz seriousliteraturedoe Man is profoundly dependent on the reflection of himself in another man's soul, be it even the soul of an idiot. Witold Gombrowicz soulreflectionmen I became bold because I had absolutely nothing to lose: neither honors, nor earnings, nor friends. I had to find myself anew and rely only on myself, because I could rely on no one else. My form is my solitude. Witold Gombrowicz solitudehonorearning The difference between western and eastern intellectuals is that the former have not been kicked in the ass enough. Witold Gombrowicz assdifferencesenough Foolishness is a twin sister of wisdom. Witold Gombrowicz twin-sisterfoolishnesstwins When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has”: “I have had, you see, to resort more and more to very small, almost invisible pleasures, little extras. You've no idea how great one becomes with these little details, it's incredible how one grows. Witold Gombrowicz wantlittlesideas I am reading Sienkiewicz. What tormenting reading. What a powerful genius! And there never was such a first-rate writer of the second-rate class. Witold Gombrowicz powerfulreadingclass It is in the prime of youth that man sinks into empty phrases and grimaces. It's in this smithy that our maturity is forged. Witold Gombrowicz maturityphrasesmen We say 'forest' but this word is made of the unknown, the unfamiliar, the unencompassed. The earth. Clods of dirt. Pebbles. On a clear day you rest among ordinary, everyday things that have been familiar to you since childhood, grass, bushes, a dog (or a cat), a chair, but that changes when you realize that every object is an enormous army, an inexhaustible swarm. Witold Gombrowicz catarmydog Not surprisingly, because too much attention to one object leads to distraction, this one object conceals everything else, and when we focus on one point on the map we know that all other points are eluding us. Witold Gombrowicz mapsfocusattention Against the background of general freakishness the case of my particular freakishness was lost. Witold Gombrowicz backgroundscaseslost Wherever I see some mystique, be it virtue or family, faith or fatherland, there I must commit some indecent act. Witold Gombrowicz fatherlandcommitvirtue Our element is unending immaturity. Witold Gombrowicz unendingimmaturityelements There were three of us; Witkiewicz, Bruno Schulz, and myself--the three muskateers of the Polish avant-garde between the wars. Only Witkiewicz remains to be discovered. Witold Gombrowicz avant-gardethreewar Man does not fear death, only the suffering. Witold Gombrowicz sufferingdoemen To contradict, even in little matters, is the supreme necessity of art today. Witold Gombrowicz littlestodayart Any artist who respects himself ought to be, and in every sense of the term, an emigre. Witold Gombrowicz oughttermartist Great! I've written something stupid, but I haven't signed a contract with anyone to produce solely wise and perfect works. I gave vent to my stupidity...and here I am, reborn. Witold Gombrowicz stupidwisehere-i-am
