And so everything I see in this world, it all moves backward and forward at the same time, like a black-smith's bellows, like everything in my press, turning into its opposite at the command of the red and green buttons, and that's what makes the world go round.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that everything in the world is in a constant state of change, moving in opposing directions simultaneously.
Bohumil Hrabal's quote reflects on the duality of existence, portraying a world where contrasting forces are always at play. It draws a vivid image of the interplay between opposites—like the bellows of a blacksmith, which inflate and deflate—suggesting that this dynamic is fundamental to the rhythm of life itself. The mention of 'red and green buttons' symbolizes the choices and commands that drive these transformations, ultimately capturing the complex nature of reality where things often become their opposite.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of reality, this quote could help illustrate the concept of duality.
Everyone has to find what is right for them, and it is different for everyone. Eating for me is how you proclaim your beliefs three times a day. That is why all religions have rules about eating. Three times a day, I remind myself that I value life and do not want to cause pain to or kill other living beings. That is why I eat the way I do.
Hatred is the coward's revenge for being intimidated.
The title of hero is bestowed by the survivors upon the fallen, who themselves know nothing of heroism.
The universe is then one, infinite, immobile. ... It is not capable of comprehension and therefore is endless and limitless, and to that extent infinite and indeterminable, and consequently immobile.
A life spent entirely in public, in the presence of others, becomes, as we would say, shallow. While it retains its visibility, it loses its quality of rising into sight from some darker ground which must remain hidden if it is not to lose its depth in a very real, non-subjective sense.
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
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