“The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.”

— Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities (1972); tr. William Weaver (1974)

About Italo Calvino

1923 – 1985

Italian novelist, author of "If on a Winter's Night a Traveler".

“Reading is going toward something that is about to be, and no one yet knows what it will be.”

“Your first book already defines you, while you are really far from being defined.”

“It is true that software cannot exercise its powers of lightness except through the weight of hardware.”

“Be attentive therefore, according to the instruction of the Gospel, to learn obedience from the lily and the bird.”

“I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and right.”

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power, the greater it will be.”

“Life consists in the alternate process of learning and unlearning; but it is often wiser to unlearn than to learn.”

“Warriors of the light are not perfect. Their beauty lies in accepting this fact and still desiring to grow and to learn.”

“Strive, and hold cheap the strain; / Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe!”