Umberto Eco Quotes
-
The comic is the perception of the opposite; humor is the feeling of it.
-
Sometimes you say things with a smile with the precise intention of making it clear that you are not being serious, and are only kidding. If I salute a friend with a smile and say, 'How are you, you old scoundrel!' clearly I don't really mean he's a scoundrel.
-
"You cannot believe what you are saying." "Well, no. Hardly ever. But the philosopher is like the poet. The latter composes ideal letters for an ideal nymph, only to plumb with his words the depths of passion. The philosopher tests the coldness of his gaze, to see how far he can undermine the fortress of bigotry."
-
The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved. You cannot make a spoon that is better than a spoon... The book has been thoroughly tested, and it's very hard to see how it could be improved on for its current purposes.
-
I developed a passion for the Middle Ages the same way some people develop a passion for coconuts.
-
That day, I began to be incredulous. Or, rather, I regretted having been credulous. I regretted having allowed myself to be borne away by a passion of the mind. Such is credulity.
-
The mobile phone... is a tool for those whose professions require a fast response, such as doctors or plumbers.
-
There are more people than you think who want to have a challenging experience, in which they are obliged to reflect about the past.
-
I don't see the point of having 80 million people online if all they are doing in the end is talking to ghosts in the suburbs.
-
Today I realize that many recent exercises in "deconstructive reading" read as if inspired by my parody. This is parody's mission: it must never be afraid of going too far. If its aim is true, it simply heralds what others will later produce, unblushing, with impassive and assertive gravity.
-
It is sometimes hard to grasp the difference between identifying with one's own roots, understanding people with other roots, and judging what is good or bad.
-
What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible.
-
At a certain moment, I decided to write a story. I had no more small children to tell them stories.
-
Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them.
-
Today, political events are nullified unless they're on TV.
-
A human best, which is very little. Its hard to accept the idea that there cannot be an order in the universe because it would offend the free will of God and His omnipotence. So the freedom of God is our condemnation, or at least the condemnation of our pride.
-
The light in her eyes was beyond description, yet it did not instill improper thoughts: it inspired a love tempered by awe, purifying the hearts it inflamed.
-
After all, the cultivated person's first duty is to be always prepared to rewrite the encyclopaedia.
-
Yes, I know, it's not the truth, but in a great history little truths can be altered so that the greater truth emerges.
-
There is no great sport in having bullets flying about one in every direction, but I find they have less horror when among them than when in anticipation.
-
At most, recognizing that our history was inspired by many tales we now recognize as false should make us alert, ready to call to constantly into question the very tale we believe true, because the criterion of the wisdom of the community is based on constant awareness of the fallibility of our learning.
-
To read a paper book is another experience: you can do it on a ship, on the branch of a tree, on your bed, even if there is a blackout.
-
The function of memory is not only to preserve, but also to throw away. If you remembered everything from your entire life, you would be sick.
-
You’ll come back To me . . . It’s written in the stars, you see, you’ll come back. You’ll come back, it’s a fact that I am strong because I do believe in you.