Umberto Eco Quotes - Page 3

We live for books.

Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means...

I love the smell of book ink in the morning.

Thus I rediscovered what writers have always known (and have told us again and again): books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told.

I seem to know all the cliches, but not how to put them together in a believable way. Or else these stories are terrible and grandiose precisely because all the cliches intertwine in an unrealistic way and you can't disentangle them. But when you actually live a cliche, it feels brand new, and you are unashamed.

Cartea a dovedit ce poate, și nu vedem un alt obiect mai bun pe care l-am putea crea pentru aceeași întrebuințare.

Nothing gives a fearful man more courage than another's fear.

And what would we be, we sinful creatures, without fear, perhaps the most foresighted, the most loving of the divine gifts?

Entering a novel is like going on a climb in the mountains: you have to learn the rhythm of respiration, acquire the pace; otherwise you stop right away.

Μου φτάνει που ξέρω να διαβάζω, γιατί έτσι μαθαίνω αυτά που δεν ξέρω, ενώ όταν γράφεις, γ�%8

The beauty of the universe consists not only of unity in variety, but also of variety in unity.

Two clichés make us laugh. A hundred cliches move us. For we sense dimly that the clichés are talking among themselves, and celebrating a reunion.

(Casablanca, or, The Clichés Are Having a Ball)

Yes, I know, it's not the truth, but in a great history little truths can be altered so that the greater truth emerges.

New Orleans is not in the grip of a neurosis of a denied past; it passes out memories generously like a great lord; it doesn't have to pursue "the real thing.

The belief that time is a linear, directed sequence running from A to B is a modern illusion. In fact, it can also go from B to A, the effect producing the cause.

How peaceful life would be without Love, Adso. How Safe. How Tranquil. And how Dull.

Scratch the heresy and you will find the leper. Every battle against heresy wants only this: to keep the leper as he is.

A scoundrel is an evil heliotrope turning always in the direction of the most powerful.

Any fact becomes important when it's connected to another.

I lacked the courage to investigate the weaknesses of the wicked, because I discovered they are the same as the weaknesses of the saintly.