"The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in the love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become.

Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant."

--

"Sabina was now by herself. She went back to the mirror, still in her underwear. She put the bowler hat on her head and had a long look at herself. She was amazed at the number of years she spent pursuing one lost moment."

--

"A man who loses his privacy loses everything, Sabina thought. And a man who gives it up of his own free will is a monster. That was why Sabina did not suffer in the least from having to keep her love secret. On the contrary, only by doing so could she live in truth."

--

"Why don't you ever use your strength on me?" she said.

"Because love means renouncing strength," said Franz softly.

Sabina realized two things: first, that Franz's words were noble and just; second, that they disqualified him from her love life."

--

"But divorce won't make any difference to you! You won't lose a thing! I'll give you all the property!" "I don't care about property," she said. "Then what do you care about? "Love," she said with a smile. "Love?" Franz asked in amazement. "Love is a battle," said Marie-Claude, still smiling. "And I plan to go on fighting. To the end." "Love is a battle?" said Franz. "Well, I don't feel at all like fighting." And he left.

--

Until that time her betrayals had filled her with excitement and joy, because they opened up new paths to new adventures of betrayal. But what if the paths come to an end? One could betray one's parents, husband, country, love, but when parents, husband, country and love were gone - what was left to betray?

Sabina felt emptiness all around her. What if that emptiness was the goal of all her betrayals?

--

Being a woman is a fate Sabina did not choose. What we have not chosen we cannot consider either our merit or our failure. Sabina believed that she had to assume the correct attitude to her unchosen fate. To rebel against being born a woman seemed as foolish to her as to take pride in it.

--

That is what made him feel that fidelity deserved pride of place among virtues: fidelity gave a unity to lives that would otherwise splinter into thousands of split-second impressions.

--

But what is betrayal? Betrayal means breaking ranks. Betrayal means breaking ranks and going off into the unknown. Sabina knew of nothing more magnificent than going off into the unknown.

--

"Noise has one advantage. It drowns out words."

--

She had an overwhelming desire to tell him, like the most banal of women, Don't let go, hold me tight, make me your plaything, your slave, be strong! But they were words she could not say.

The only thing she said when he released her from his embrace was, "You don't know how happy I am to be with you." That was the most her reserved nature allowed her to express.

--

Tereza knew what happens during the moment love is born: the woman cannot resist the voice calling forth her terrified soul; the man cannot resist the woman whose soul thus responds to his voice.

--

and loves are like empires: when the idea they are founded on crumbles, they, too, fade away.

--

But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.