Whenever Humanity Seems Condemned To Heaviness, I

The Contradiction [trying To Use Russian Model To Reshape Italy] Grew To Such An Extent That I Felt Totally Cut Off From The Communist World And, In The End, From Politics. That Was Fortunate. The Idea Of Putting Literature In Second Place, After Politics, Is An Enormous Mistake, Because Politics Almost Never Achieves Its Ideals.

You Are About To Begin Reading Italo Calvino's New Novel, If On A Winter's Night A Traveler.

Very Often The Effort Men Put Into Activities That Seem Completely Useless Turns Out To Be Extremely Important In Ways No One Could Foresee. Play Has Always Been The Mainspring Of Culture.

The People Who Move Through The Streets Are All Strangers. At Each Encounter, They Imagine A Thousand Things About One Another; Meetings Which Could Take Place Between Them, Conversations, Surprises, Caresses, Bites. But No One Greets Anyone; Eyes Lock For A Second, Then Dart Away, Seeking Other Eyes, Never Stopping...something Runs Among Them, An Exchange Of Glances Like Lines That Connect One Figure With Another And Draw Arrows, Stars, Triangles, Until All Combinations Are Used Up In A Moment, And Other Characters Come On To The Scene.

Every Time I Must Find Something To Do That Will Look Like Something A Little Beyond My Capabilities.