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“we’re a southern people, Pereira, and we obey whoever shouts the loudest and gives the orders.”
― Antonio Tabucchi, Pereira Declares: A Testimony

“I believe that the phrase ‘obligatory reading’ is a contradiction in terms; reading should not be obligatory. Should we ever speak of 'obligatory pleasure'? Pleasure is not obligatory, pleasure is something we seek. 'Obligatory happiness'! [...] If a book bores you, leave it; don’t read it because it is famous, don’t read it because it is modern, don’t read a book because it is old. If a book is tedious to you, leave it, even if that book is 'Paradise Lost' — which is not tedious to me — or 'Don Quixote' — which also is not tedious to me. But if a book is tedious to you, don't read it; that book was not written for you. Reading should be a form of happiness, so I would advise all possible readers of my last will and testament—which I do not plan to write— I would advise them to read a lot, and not to get intimidated by writers' reputations, to continue to look for personal happiness, personal enjoyment. It is the only way to read.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature

“Come in," he said gently. And inwardly raged at this portion of his being that rendered him helpless; that
he could not control; that lay coiled within him like a length of rope, always ready to fling itself unbidden
at the cry of someone else's need. It gave him -no peace. Not even in sleep. At the edge of his dreams,
there was often a sound like a faint, brief cry of someone in distress. It was almost inaudible in the
distance. Always the same. And for minutes after waking, he would feel the anxiety of some duty
unfulfilled.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“Ero talmente abituato a pensare e immaginare tutto secondo i libri e a rappresentarmi ogni cosa al mondo così come io stesso l’avevo inventata prima nei miei sogni, che lì per lì non capii neppure quella strana circostanza. Ma ecco quel che accadde: Liza, offesa e schiacciata da me, aveva capito molto più di quanto immaginassi. Aveva capito, di tutto, ciò che una donna capisce sempre prima di ogni altra cosa, se ama veramente, e cioè che ero infelice.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead