Love has the faculty of making two lovers seem naked, not in each other's sight, but in their own. Cesare Pavese More Quotes by Cesare Pavese More Quotes From Cesare Pavese War makes men barbarous because, to take part in it, one must harden oneself against all regret, all appreciation of delicacy and sensitive values. One must live as if those values did not exist, and when the war is over one has lost the resilience to return to those values. Cesare Pavese regretappreciationwar To choose a hardship for ourselves is our only defense against that hardship. This is what is meant by accepting suffering. Those who, by their very nature, can suffer completely, utterly, have an advantage. That is how we can disarm the power of suffering, make it our own creation, our own choice; submit to it. A justification for suicide. Cesare Pavese choicessuicidesuffering Work alone isn't enough for me and mine; we know how to break our backs, but the great dream Of my fathers was to be good at doing nothing. Cesare Pavese dreamworkfather There is nothing fine about being a child: it is fine, when we are old, to look back to when we were children. Cesare Pavese finechildrenlooks You need a village, if only for the pleasure of leaving it. A village means that you are not alone, knowing that in the people, the trees, the earth, there is something that belongs to you, waiting for you when you are not there. Cesare Pavese knowinghomemean Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will. All the rest - thought, action - is just a pastime, mental or physical. What counts then, is to come to grips with reality. The rest can go. Cesare Pavese actionrealitypast I am the captain of my destiny, I do not abandon the ship in hard times, But, I do have sense enough not to go down with the ship. Cesare Pavese captainshard-timesdestiny No woman marries for money; they are all clever enough, before marrying a millionaire, to fall in love with him first. Cesare Pavese marriagemoneylove The man of action is not the headstrong fool who rushes into danger with no thought for himself, but the man who puts into practice the things he knows. Cesare Pavese foolpracticemen Childhood is not only the childhood we really had but also the impressions we formed of it in our adolescence and maturity. That is why childhood seems so long. Probably every period of life is multiplied by our reflections upon the next. Cesare Pavese maturityreflectionlong Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends Cesare Pavese strangers-and-friendshometravel You don't remember days, you remember moments. Cesare Pavese momentsremember Writing is a fine thing, because it combines the two pleasures of talking to yourself and talking to a crowd. Cesare Pavese writingtalkingtwo In general, the man who is readily disposed to sacrifice himself is one who does not know how else to give meaning to his life. The profession of enthusiasm is the most sickening of all insincerities. Cesare Pavese sacrificegivingmen Misfortunes cannot suffice to make a fool into an intelligent man. Cesare Pavese foolintelligentmen Men who have a tempestuous inner life and do not seek to give vent to it by talking or writing are simply men who have no tempestuous inner life. Give company to a lonely man and he will talk more than anyone. Cesare Pavese lonelywritingmen Many men on the point of an edifying death would be furious if they were suddenly restored to health. Cesare Pavese furiouswould-bemen You've got to understand life, understand it when you're young. Cesare Pavese younglife The world, the future, is now within you as your past, as experience, skill in technique, and the rich, everlasting mystery is found to be childish you that, at the time, you made no effort to possess. Cesare Pavese effortskillspast Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills. Your steps and breath like the wind of dawn smother houses. The city shudders, Stones exhale— you are life, an awakening. Star lost in the light of dawn, trill of the breeze, warmth, breath— the night is done. You are light and morning. Cesare Pavese starsmorningsweet
