Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

75 Top Quotes By Milan Kundera, The Author Of The Unbearable Lightness Of Being

Famous As: Czech Writer Best Known for His Novel 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'
Born On: April 1, 1929
Born In: Brno, Czechia
Age: 93 Years

Milan Kundera is a French author, novelist, essayist, playwright and short story writer, who was born in Czechoslovakia but has been living in exile in France since 1975 and is often regarded as one of the greatest authors of the modern era. Kundera’s staggering body of work is frequently cited as being worthy of a Nobel Prize in Literature and most of his books have been read by people from all across the world. His first book titled ‘The Joke’ was published in 1967 but the criticism of the Soviet Union did not go down well with the ruling class in Czechoslovakia. ‘The Book of Laughter and Forgetting’ was published after he moved to France and remains one of his notable works. However, his most famous work remains the 1984 novel ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’, which was later on turned into a film by Philip Kaufman. Other notable works include ‘Immortality; Life is Elsewhere’, ‘Identity’, ‘Slowness’, ‘Ignorance’ and ‘The Festival of Insignificance’ among others. He has also won plenty of awards including Jerusalem Prize, Herder Prize and The Austrian State Prize for European Literature among others. Kundera is one of the intellectual giants of the modern era and as such has delivered plenty of quotable quotes through his work and life. Here are the selected ones.

Listed In:
Two people in love, alone, isolated from the world, that's beautiful.

Two people in love, alone, isolated from the world, that's beautiful.

Milan Kundera
You can't measure the mutual affection of two human beings by the number of words they exchange.

You can't measure the mutual affection of two human beings by the number of words they exchange.

Milan Kundera
When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.

When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.

Milan Kundera
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.

Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.

Milan Kundera
Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.

Love is the longing for the half of ourselves we have lost.

Milan Kundera
But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.

But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.

Milan Kundera
For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.

For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.

Milan Kundera
The Greek word for

The Greek word for "return" is nostos. Algos means "suffering." So nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return.

Milan Kundera
In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine.

In the sunset of dissolution, everything is illuminated by the aura of nostalgia, even the guillotine.

Milan Kundera
We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.

We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.

Milan Kundera
A person who longs to leave the place where he lives is an unhappy person.

A person who longs to leave the place where he lives is an unhappy person.

Milan Kundera
There is no perfection only life

There is no perfection only life

Milan Kundera
She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It had the same significance for her as an elegant cane for the dandy a century ago. It differentiated her from others.

She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It had the same significance for her as an elegant cane for the dandy a century ago. It differentiated her from others.

Milan Kundera
A single metaphor can give birth to love.

A single metaphor can give birth to love.

Milan Kundera
I want you to be weak. As weak as I am.

I want you to be weak. As weak as I am.

Milan Kundera
And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in a circle; it runs ahead in a straight line. That is why man cannot be happy: happiness is the longing for repetition.

And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in a circle; it runs ahead in a straight line. That is why man cannot be happy: happiness is the longing for repetition.

Milan Kundera
The only relationship that can make both partners happy is one in which sentimentality has no place and neither partner makes any claim on the life and freedom of the other.

The only relationship that can make both partners happy is one in which sentimentality has no place and neither partner makes any claim on the life and freedom of the other.

Milan Kundera
Loves are like empires: when the idea they are founded on crumbles, they, too, fade away.

Loves are like empires: when the idea they are founded on crumbles, they, too, fade away.

Milan Kundera
Oh lovers! be careful in those dangerous first days! once you've brought breakfast in bed you'll have to bring it forever, unless you want to be accused of lovelessness and betrayal.

Oh lovers! be careful in those dangerous first days! once you've brought breakfast in bed you'll have to bring it forever, unless you want to be accused of lovelessness and betrayal.

Milan Kundera
And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?

And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?

Milan Kundera
There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.

There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.

Milan Kundera
Flirting is a promise of sexual intercourse without a guarantee.

Flirting is a promise of sexual intercourse without a guarantee.

Milan Kundera
Physical love is unthinkable without violence.

Physical love is unthinkable without violence.

Milan Kundera
Yes, it's a well-known fact about you: you're like death, you take everything.

Yes, it's a well-known fact about you: you're like death, you take everything.

Milan Kundera
Chance and chance alone has a message for us. Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. Only chance can speak to us.

Chance and chance alone has a message for us. Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. Only chance can speak to us.

Milan Kundera
I was not a hypocrite, with one real face and several false ones. I had several faces because I was young and didn't know who I was or wanted to be.

I was not a hypocrite, with one real face and several false ones. I had several faces because I was young and didn't know who I was or wanted to be.

Milan Kundera
Living is being happy: seeing, hearing, touching, drinking, eating, urinating, defecating, diving into the water and gazing at the sky, laughing and crying.

Living is being happy: seeing, hearing, touching, drinking, eating, urinating, defecating, diving into the water and gazing at the sky, laughing and crying.

Milan Kundera
Why don't you ever use your strength on me?

Why don't you ever use your strength on me?" she said. Because love means renouncing strength," said Franz softly.

Milan Kundera
To laugh is to live profoundly.

To laugh is to live profoundly.

Milan Kundera
The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting

The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting

Milan Kundera
A man is responsible for his ignorance.

A man is responsible for his ignorance.

Milan Kundera
Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death.

Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is extremely important: euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals have the right to a merciful death.

Milan Kundera
Yes, it's crazy. Love is either crazy or it's nothing at all.

Yes, it's crazy. Love is either crazy or it's nothing at all.

Milan Kundera
Fortunately women have the miraculous ability to change the meaning of their actions after the event.

Fortunately women have the miraculous ability to change the meaning of their actions after the event.

Milan Kundera
Kitsch is the inability to admit that shit exists

Kitsch is the inability to admit that shit exists

Milan Kundera
On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth.

On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth.

Milan Kundera
Happiness is the longing for repetition.

Happiness is the longing for repetition.

Milan Kundera
The greater the ambiguity, the greater the pleasure.

The greater the ambiguity, the greater the pleasure.

Milan Kundera
The worth of a human being lies in the ability to extend oneself, to go outside oneself, to exist in and for other people.

The worth of a human being lies in the ability to extend oneself, to go outside oneself, to exist in and for other people.

Milan Kundera
Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.

Tomas did not realize at the time that metaphors are dangerous. Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.

Milan Kundera
Sometimes you make up your mind about something without knowing why, and your decision persists by the power of inertia. Every year it gets harder to change.

Sometimes you make up your mind about something without knowing why, and your decision persists by the power of inertia. Every year it gets harder to change.

Milan Kundera
To rebel against being born a woman seemed as foolish to her as to take pride in it.

To rebel against being born a woman seemed as foolish to her as to take pride in it.

Milan Kundera
But isn't it true that an author can write only about himself?

But isn't it true that an author can write only about himself?

Milan Kundera
Jealousy isn't a pleasant quality, but if it isn't overdone (and if it's combined with modesty), apart from its inconvenience there's even something touching about it.

Jealousy isn't a pleasant quality, but if it isn't overdone (and if it's combined with modesty), apart from its inconvenience there's even something touching about it.

Milan Kundera
Once the writer in every individual comes to life (and that time is not far off), we are in for an age of universal deafness and lack of understanding.

Once the writer in every individual comes to life (and that time is not far off), we are in for an age of universal deafness and lack of understanding.

Milan Kundera
I have no mission. No one has.

I have no mission. No one has.

Milan Kundera
The emotion of love gives all of us a misleading illusion of knowing the other.

The emotion of love gives all of us a misleading illusion of knowing the other.

Milan Kundera
Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.

Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test…consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.

Milan Kundera
I have a strong will to love you for eternity.

I have a strong will to love you for eternity.

Milan Kundera
Without realizing it, the individual composes his life according to the laws of beauty even in times of greatest distress.

Without realizing it, the individual composes his life according to the laws of beauty even in times of greatest distress.

Milan Kundera
Tereza knew what happens during the moment love is born: the woman cannot resist the voice calling forth her terrified soul; the man cannot resist the woman whose soul thus responds to his voice.

Tereza knew what happens during the moment love is born: the woman cannot resist the voice calling forth her terrified soul; the man cannot resist the woman whose soul thus responds to his voice.

Milan Kundera
A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limits of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.

A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limits of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.

Milan Kundera
Only the most naive of questions are truly serious.

Only the most naive of questions are truly serious.

Milan Kundera
In Tereza's eyes, books were the emblems of a secret brotherhood

In Tereza's eyes, books were the emblems of a secret brotherhood

Milan Kundera
Once her love had been publicized, it would gain weight, become a burden.

Once her love had been publicized, it would gain weight, become a burden.

Milan Kundera
I cannot hate them because nothing binds me to them; I have nothing in common with them.

I cannot hate them because nothing binds me to them; I have nothing in common with them.

Milan Kundera
Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.

Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.

Milan Kundera
The moment someone keeps an eye on what we do, we involuntarily make allowances for that eye, and nothing we do is truthful. Having a public, keeping a public in mind, means living in lies…

The moment someone keeps an eye on what we do, we involuntarily make allowances for that eye, and nothing we do is truthful. Having a public, keeping a public in mind, means living in lies…

Milan Kundera
Metaphors are dangerous. Love begins with a metaphor. Which is to say, love begins at the point when a woman enters her first word into our poetic memory.

Metaphors are dangerous. Love begins with a metaphor. Which is to say, love begins at the point when a woman enters her first word into our poetic memory.

Milan Kundera
Solitude: a sweet absence of looks.

Solitude: a sweet absence of looks.

Milan Kundera
The basis of shame is not some personal mistake of ours, but the ignominy, the humiliation we feel that we must be what we are without any choice in the matter, and that this humiliation is seen by everyone.

The basis of shame is not some personal mistake of ours, but the ignominy, the humiliation we feel that we must be what we are without any choice in the matter, and that this humiliation is seen by everyone.

Milan Kundera
[W]e must never allow the future to collapse under the burden of memory.

[W]e must never allow the future to collapse under the burden of memory.

Milan Kundera
The degree of slowness is directionally proportional to the intensity of memory. The degree of speed is directionally proportional to the intensity of forgetting.

The degree of slowness is directionally proportional to the intensity of memory. The degree of speed is directionally proportional to the intensity of forgetting.

Milan Kundera
Ah, ladies and gentlemen, a man lives a sad life when he cannot take anything or anyone seriously.

Ah, ladies and gentlemen, a man lives a sad life when he cannot take anything or anyone seriously.

Milan Kundera
Love is a continual interrogation. I don’t know of a better definition of love.

Love is a continual interrogation. I don’t know of a better definition of love.

Milan Kundera
A man who loses his privacy loses everything. And a man who gives it up of his own free will is a monster.

A man who loses his privacy loses everything. And a man who gives it up of his own free will is a monster.

Milan Kundera
Looking out over the courtyard at the dirty walls, he realized he had no idea whether it was hysteria or love.

Looking out over the courtyard at the dirty walls, he realized he had no idea whether it was hysteria or love.

Milan Kundera
Culture is perishing in overproduction, in an avalanche of words, in the madness of quantity.

Culture is perishing in overproduction, in an avalanche of words, in the madness of quantity.

Milan Kundera
The longing for Paradise is man's longing not to be man.

The longing for Paradise is man's longing not to be man.

Milan Kundera
...because love is continual interrogation. I don't know of a better definition of love.

...because love is continual interrogation. I don't know of a better definition of love.

Milan Kundera
Because to live in a world in which no one is forgiven, where all are irredeemable, is the same as living in hell.

Because to live in a world in which no one is forgiven, where all are irredeemable, is the same as living in hell.

Milan Kundera
Hate traps us by binding us too tightly to our adversary.

Hate traps us by binding us too tightly to our adversary.

Milan Kundera
Yes, if you're looking for infinity, just close your eyes!

Yes, if you're looking for infinity, just close your eyes!

Milan Kundera
She is sadder and sadder, and for a man there is no balm more soothing than the sadness he has caused a woman.

She is sadder and sadder, and for a man there is no balm more soothing than the sadness he has caused a woman.

Milan Kundera
She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It differentiated her from the others

She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It differentiated her from the others

Milan Kundera