A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth reading.
Interpretation
Life is unpredictable, much like a story that unfolds with surprises until the end.
This quote by Yevgeny Zamyatin suggests that the journey of life is filled with uncertainty and unexpected twists, akin to reading a novel where the conclusion remains unknown until the final pages. It implies that the value of both life and literature lies in their unpredictability and the experiences that lead us to our eventual outcomes.
In practice
Using this quote in a graduation speech to highlight the unpredictable journey of life ahead.
The knife is the most durable, immortal, the most genius thing that man created. The knife was the guillotine; the knife is the universal means of solving all knots; and along the blade of a knife lies the path of paradox - the single most worthy path of the fearless mind.
Accentuated plainness and accentuated vice ought to bring about harmony. Beauty lies in harmony, in style, whether it be the harmony of ugliness or beauty, vice or virtue.
The world is kept alive only by heretics: the heretic Christ, the heretic Copernicus, the heretic Tolstoy. Our symbol of faith is heresy...
The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing is - to bloom. (“A Story About The Most Important Thing”)
Knowledge, absolutely sure of its infallibility, is faith.
You're in a bad way! Apparently, you have developed a soul.
I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him.
After the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense.
Looking for God-or Heaven-by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare's plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters.
Gnostic politics is self-defeating in so far as its disregard for the structure of reality leads to continuous warfare.
Haven’t you heard of the music of the spheres?” asked the dragon. “It’s the music that space makes to itself. All the spirits inside all the stars are singing. I’m a star spirit. I sing too. The music of the spheres is what makes space so peaceful.
I do not believe that true optimism can come about except through tragedy.
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