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 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 ineptitude style art Serious literature does not exist to make life easy but to complicate it. Witold Gombrowicz serious literature doe Man is profoundly dependent on the reflection of himself in another man's soul, be it even the soul of an idiot. Witold Gombrowicz soul reflection men 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 solitude honor earning I didn't go to the lectures. My valet, who was more distinguished than I, went instead. Witold Gombrowicz valet distinguished lectures The difference between western and eastern intellectuals is that the former have not been kicked in the ass enough. Witold Gombrowicz ass differences enough Foolishness is a twin sister of wisdom. Witold Gombrowicz twin-sister foolishness twins 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 want littles ideas 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 powerful reading class 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 cat army dog 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 maps focus attention Against the background of general freakishness the case of my particular freakishness was lost. Witold Gombrowicz backgrounds cases lost Wherever I see some mystique, be it virtue or family, faith or fatherland, there I must commit some indecent act. Witold Gombrowicz fatherland commit virtue Our element is unending immaturity. Witold Gombrowicz unending immaturity elements 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-garde three war Man does not fear death, only the suffering. Witold Gombrowicz suffering doe men To contradict, even in little matters, is the supreme necessity of art today. Witold Gombrowicz littles today art Any artist who respects himself ought to be, and in every sense of the term, an emigre. Witold Gombrowicz ought term artist 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 stupid wise here-i-am
