Quotes by Milan Kundera

He took over anger to intimidate subordinates, and in time anger took over him.

Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.

The novelist teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question. There is wisdom and tolerance in that attitude. In a world built on sacrosanct certainties the novel is dead.

How goodness heightens beauty!

Without realizing it, the individual composes his life according to the laws of beauty even in times of greatest distress.

Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation.

No great movement designed to change the world can bear to be laughed at or belittled. Mockery is a rust that corrodes all it touches.

Mysticism and exaggeration go together. A mystic must not fear ridicule if he is to push all the way to the limits of humility or the limits of delight.

True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.

No great movement designed to change the world can bear to be laughed at or belittled. Mockery is a rust that corrodes all it touches.