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“That imminence of a revelation that is not yet produced, is perhaps the aesthetic reality.”
― Jorge Luis Borges, Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952

“Wisdom! To leave his wife, to leave his babes,
His mansion and his titles, in a place
From whence himself does fly? He loves us not.
He wants the natural touch; for the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight,            
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.
All is the fear and nothing is the love,
As little is the wisdom, where the flight
So runs against all reason”
― William Shakespeare, Macbeth

“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

“Il nostro proprio volere, spontaneo e libero, il nostro proprio capriccio, anche se stravagantissimo, la nostra fantasia, irritata a volte magari fino alla pazzia, tutto ciò è appunto quello stesso vantaggiosissimo vantaggio tralasciato, che non rientra in nessuna classificazione e a causa del quale tutti i sistemi e le teorie se ne vanno continuamente al diavolo.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead