Musilese VIII

Or a few Musil-bullets:

  • "How things might turn out! That's always the way with you; it would never occur to you to wonder how things should be."
  • It was essentially the same conversation he had had with Diotima, with only superficial differences. Nor did it make much difference which woman happened to be sitting there facing him; a body, introduced into a given magnetic field, invariably sets certain processes in motion.
  • "Why on earth should I feel called upon to write a book?" Ulrich objected. "I was born of my mother, after all, not an inkwell."
  • In this fashion Arnheim spoke with disapproval of desire, even as he felt it struggling like a blinded slave in the cellar.
  • The moment we speak, certain doors begin to close; language works best for what doesn't really matter; we talk in lieu of living. . . ."

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