3
" He read a lot, but what he read, and not just that but everything he saw, films and paintings, he translated into feeling. And this feeling, which could not immediately be expressed in words, not yet and maybe never, that formless mass of sentiments, impressions, observations — that was his way of thinking. You could circle around it with words, but there always remained far more that was not expressed than was. And later, too, a certain resentment would take possession of him, toward those people who demanded precise answers, or pretended to be able to give them. It was, on the contrary, the very mystery of everything that was so attractive. You should not want to impose too much order on it. If you did, something would be lost irrevocably. That mysteries can become more mysterious if you think about them with precision and method, he did not yet know. He felt at home in his sentimental chaos. To chart it you had to be an adult, but then you were at once labelled, finished, and in effect already a little dead. "
― Cees Nooteboom , Rituals
5
" When Sartre says man has been thrown into the world, he is alone, there is no God, we are responsible for what we are, what we do, I say yes!"
The affirmative echoed around the woods. The dog pricked up his ears. This man has no one to talk to, thought Inni.
"But when he then asks me to be responsible for the world as well, for others, I say no! No. Why should I be? 'When man chooses himself, he chooses all men.' Why? I have not asked for anything. I have nothing to do with the vermin I see around me. I live out my time because I have to, that is all. "
― Cees Nooteboom , Rituals
7
" «Lei, a quanto ho capito, è professore di teologia», continuò Taads, «e questa è dunque una conversazione puerile. Lei è pieno fino al collo di dogmatica, di scolastica, conosce le prove dell'esistenza di Dio e le loro confutazioni. Avete costruito tutto un sistema sul crudele simbolo della croce, la vostra religione vive ancora di quella seduta sadomasochistica che, probabilmente, ha davvero avuto luogo, un giorno. L'organizzazione militaristica dell'Impero romano ha dato modo di diffondersi a questo singolare fanatismo, con il suo strano miscuglio di idolatria pagana e di buone intenzioni; l'espansionismo dell'Occidente e il colonialismo hanno assicurato la sua ulteriore propagazione e la Chiesa, che lei chiama madre, ha più frequentemente agito da assassina, spesso da boia, sempre da tiranna.» «E lei ha una risposta migliore?»
«Io non ho nessuna risposta.» "
― Cees Nooteboom , Rituals
10
" I could have forced myself to adapt," said Taads. "In this world the individual self is of such importance that it is allowed to become absorbed in itself and to grub around in its trivial personal history for years on end with the help of a psychiatrist, so as to be able to cope. But I don't think that is important enough. And then suicide is no longer a disgrace. If I had done it earlier, I would have done it in hatred, but that is no longer the case."
"Hatred?"
"I used to hate the world. People, smells, dogs, feet, telephones, newspapers, voices — everything filled me with the greatest disgust. I have always been afraid I might murder somebody. Suicide is when you have been all around the world with your fear and your aggression and you end up by yourself again."
"It remains aggression."
"Not necessarily."
"What are you waiting for then?"
"For the right moment. The time has not yet come." He said it amiably, as if he were talking to a child. "
― Cees Nooteboom , Rituals
