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.

千里之行，始於足下。

Milan Kundera

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Buy The Unbearable Lightness of Being at Amazon Buy The Unbearable Lightness of Being at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Time Happiness The human condition

Author

Milan Kundera

Source

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Medium

Novel

Language

Czech

Time

1984 1980s 20th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

Czech Republic Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Kundera, Milan. L'insoutenable légèreté de l'être [The Unbearable Lightness of Being]. Gallimard, 1984.

Current Citation

Kundera, Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, translated by Michael Henry Heim. Harper Perennial, 2009.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Milan Kundera about time: “And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in…”
Download
A quote by Milan Kundera about time: “And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in…”
Download
A quote by Milan Kundera about time: “And therein lies the whole of man's plight. Human time does not turn in…”
Download

Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1980s

Pain is an event, an experience that must be recognized, named, and then used in some way in order for the experience to change, to be transformed into something else, strength or knowledge or action.

Audre Lorde

Sister Outsider

Buy Sister Outsider at Amazon Buy Sister Outsider at Amazon
More information about this quote
Topic
Pain Learning from suffering

Author

Audre Lorde
Source
Sister Outsider
Medium
Essay
Genre
Feminist literature
Language
English
Time
1984 1980s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Lorde, Audre. "Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger." Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Crossing Press, 1984.

Another quote about The human condition

Between us and excellence, the gods have placed the sweat of our brows.

Hesiod

Works and Days

Buy Works and Days at Amazon Buy Works and Days at Amazon
Read Works and Days at Harvard's classics page
More information about this quote
Topic
Hard work Excellence Character Virtue The human condition

Author

Hesiod
Source
Works and Days
Medium
Poem
Genre
Didactic poem
Language
Greek
Time
700 BC 700s BC 8th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 1
Original Citation

Hesiod. Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι [Works and Days]. c. 700 BC, l. 289.

Current Citation

Hesiod. "Works and Days." Theogony and Works and Days, translated by M. L. West. Oxford University Press, 2009, l. 289.