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21 " I’m afraid that once you have all the answers, your life closes in on you like a trap, with the clank of keys in a prison cell. Wouldn’t it be better to leave empty lots around you, into which you can escape? "
― Patrick Modiano , Invisible Ink
22 " We discover, often too late to talk to him about it, an episode from his life that a loved one has concealed from you. Has he really hidden it from you? He has forgotten, or more likely, over time, he no longer thinks about it. Or, quite simply, he can't find the words. "
― Patrick Modiano , So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood
23 " Did you see her again in France?" I asked him.”“No. When I got to France, she was already dead. She committed suicide ...”“Why?”“She often told me she was frightened of getting old... "
― Patrick Modiano , Rue des Boutiques Obscures
24 " Someone had told him one day that you forget the voices of those whom you have been close to in the past very quickly. "
25 " Je pense à Dora Bruder. Je me dis que sa fugue n'était pas aussi simple que la mienne une vingtaine d'années plus tard, dans un monde redevenu inoffensif. Cette ville de décembre 1941, son couvre-feu, ses soldats, sa police, tout lui était hostile et voulait sa perte. A seize ans, elle avait le monde entier contre elle, sans qu'elle sache pourquoi. "
― Patrick Modiano , Dora Bruder
26 " La fugue – paraît-il – est un appel au secours et quelquefois une forme de suicide. Vous éprouvez quand même un bref sentiment d’éternité. Vous n’avez pas seulement tranché les liens avec le monde, mais aussi avec le temps. Et il arrive qu’à la fin d’une matinée, le ciel soit d’un bleu léger et que rien ne pèse plus sur vous. Les aiguilles de l’horloge du jardin des Tuileries sont immobiles pour toujours. Une fourmi n’en finit pas de traverser la tache de soleil. "
― Patrick Modiano
27 " The letters dance before my eyes. Who am I? "
28 " Hutte was always saying that, in the end, we are all "beach men" and that "the sand"--I am quoting his own words-- keeps the traces of our footsteps only a few moment "
29 " لا أحب الحديث كثيراً. فأنا أدهش من هؤلاء الناس الذين يجيدون الكلام. "
30 " أحسست بأن الإحباط يستولى علىّ ، بل أكثر من الإحباط ، اليأس الذى يتملكك عندما تُدرك أنك رغم جهدك وميزاتك وكل إرادتك الطيبة ترتطم بعقبة منيعة لا قبل لك بالتغلب عليها. "
31 " أيمكن أن لا يتذكر المرء مكاناً قضى فيه بعضاً من حياته. "
32 " For me the autumn has never been a sad season. The dead leaves and the increasingly shorter days have never suggested the end of anything, but rather an expectation of the future. In paris, there is an electricity in the air in october evenings at nightfall. Even when it is raining. i do not feel low at that hour of the day, nor do i have the sense of time flying by. i have the impression that everything is possible. the year begins in the month of october. "
― Patrick Modiano , Dans le café de la jeunesse perdue
33 " Je crois qu'on entend encore dans les entrées d'immeubles l'écho des pas de ceux qui avaient l'habitude de les traverser et qui, depuis, ont disparu. Quelque chose continue de vibrer après leur passage, des ondes de plus en plus faibles, mais que l'on capte si l'on est attentif. "
34 " In writing this book, I send out signals, like a lighthouse beacon in whose power to illuminate the darkness, alas, I have no faith. But I live in hope. "
35 " You were right to tell me that in life it is not the future which counts, but the past. "
36 " Writing is a strange and solitary activity. There are dispiriting times when you start working on the first few pages of a novel. Every day, you have the feeling you are on the wrong track. This creates a strong urge to go back and follow a different path. It is important not to give in to this urge, but to keep going. It is a little like driving a car at night, in winter, on ice, with zero visibility. You have no choice, you cannot go into reverse, you must keep going forward while telling yourself that all will be well when the road becomes more stable and the fog lifts. "
37 " Ever since, the Paris wherein I have tried to retrace her steps has remained as silent and deserted as it was on that day. I walk through empty streets. For me, they are always empty, even at dusk, during the rush hour, when the crowds are hurrying towards the mouths of the métro. I think of her in spite of myself, sensing an echo of her presence in this neighborhood or that. "
38 " Then she lowered her arm and the gate closed behind her. That arm suddenly falling and the metallic clank of the gate shutting made me understand that from one moment to another one can lose heart. "
― Patrick Modiano , Honeymoon
39 " Perhaps it was one of those mild, sunny winter days when you have a feeling of holiday and eternity-the illusory feeling that the course of time is suspended, and that you need only slip through this breach to escape the trap that is closing around you. "
40 " What a peculiar path I’ve had to take in order to reach you. "