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Platform QUOTES

Platform QUOTES

1 " Anything can happen in life, especially nothing. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

2 " It is in our relations with other people that we gain a sense of ourselves; it's that, pretty much, that makes relations with other people unbearable. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

3 " That's precisely what's so extraordinary about you, you enjoy giving pleasure. Offering your body as an object of pleasure, giving pleasure unselfishly: that's what Westerners don't know how to do any more. They've completely lost the sense of giving. Try as they might, they no longer feel sex as something natural. Not only are they ashamed of their own bodies, which aren't up to porn standards, but for the same reasons they no longer feel truly attracted to the body of the other. It's impossible to make love without a certain abandon, without accepting, at least temporarily, the state of being in a state of dependency, of weakness. Sentimental adulation and sexual obsession have the same roots, both proceed from some degree of selflessness; it's not a domain in which you can find fulfilment without losing yourself. We have become cold, rational, acutely conscious of our individual existence and our rights; more than anything, we want to avoid alienation and dependence; on top of that we're obsessed with health and hygiene: these are hardly ideal conditions in which to make love. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

4 " What about you, Michel, what are you going to do here?'

The response closest to the truth was probably something like 'Nothing'; but it's always difficult to explain that kind of thing to an active person. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

5 " All in all, airport shops still form part of the national culture; but a part that is safe, attenuated, and wholly adapted to global consumption. For the traveler at the end of his journey, it is a halfway house, less interesting and less frightening than the rest of the country. I had an inkling that, more and more, the whole world would come to resemble an airport. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

6 " Vivre sans lecture c'est dangereux, il faut se contenter de la vie, ça peut amener à prendre des risques. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

7 " Îmi plăceau cataloagele turistice, caracterul lor abstract, felul lor de a reduce locurile lumii la un șir de tarife și fericiri posibile: apreciam în special sistemul de notare cu steluțe, indicând intensitatea fericirii la care erai îndreptățit să speri. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

8 " Înțelegeam din ce în ce mai puțin cum poți să fii atașat de o idee, de o țară, în general de altceva decât o persoană. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

9 " Nu avea un discurs de psihiatru tipic, în fine, era suportabil. Îmi amintesc că-mi sugera să mă „eliberez de legături”; părea mai curând o trăncăneală budistă. Ce să eliberez? Toată ființa mea era o legătură. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

10 " Când iubirea a dispărut, viața devine oarecum convențională și silnică. Păstrezi o formă umană, comportamentele obișnuite, un soi de structură; dar sufletul, cum se spune, e gol. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

11 " Ce n'est pas très difficile de travailler dans un bureau, il suffit d'être un peu méticuleux, de prendre des décisions rapidement, et de s'y tenir. J'avais vite compris qu'il n'est pas forcément nécessaire de prendre /la meilleur décision/, mais qu'il suffit, dans la plupart des cas, de prendre /une décision quelconque/, à condition de la prendre rapidement; enfin, si on travaille dans le secteur public. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

12 " Als ik de liefde niet heb begrepen, wat heb ik er dan aan om de rest te begrijpen? "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

13 " L'absence d'envie de vivre, hélas, ne suffit pas pour avoir envie de mourir. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

14 " Not having anything around to read is dangerous: you have to content yourself with life itself, and that can lead you to take risks. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

15 " People are suspicious of single men on vacation, after they get to a certain age: they assume that they're selfish, and probably a bit pervy. I can't say they're wrong. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

16 " În viaţă se poate întâmpla orice, şi mai ales nimic. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

17 " In my life, I had known suffering, oppression, anxiety; I had never known boredom. I could see no objection to the endless, imbecile repetition of sameness. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

18 " ...за мен културата винаги е била необходима компенсация за нещастието в живота ни. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

19 " Of course, we can distinguish between males and females; we can also, if we choose, distinguish between different age categories; but any more advanced distinction comes close to pedantry, probably a result of boredom. A creature that is bored elaborates distinctions and hierarchies. According to Hutchinson and Rawlins, the development of systems of hierarchical dominance within animal societies does not correspond to any practical necessity, nor to any selective advantage; it simply constitutes a means of combating the crushing boredom of life in the heart of nature. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform

20 " We are probably wrong to suspect that each individual has some secret passion, some mystery, some weakness; if Jean-Yves's father had had to express his innermost convictions, the profound meaning he ascribed to life, he could probably have cited nothing more than a slight disappointment. "

― Michel Houellebecq , Platform