Life of Pi

"and the moral of that is – ‘Be what you would seem to be’ – or, if you’d like it put more simply – ‘Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise that what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."

Ни одна ночь не приносит с собой
полной темноты.
Я говорю вам, я утверждаю,
что у самой глубокой печали есть дно
и всегда есть окошко, открытое в ночь,
освещённое маленькой лампой.

Даже в отчаявшейся душе
среди сонного мрака и холода
не спит безумнейшая мечта,
пытаясь согреть эту душу.

Тьма не может быть беспросветной,
потому что есть щедрое сердце,
чтобы простить нас,
и рука, протянутая для спасения,
и внимательные глаза.

В самом пустом и враждебном мире
какой-то человек живёт для того,
чтобы разделить с тобой твою жизнь.
(C)Paul Eluard

"That's what fiction is about, isn't it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out the essence?"

...short of breath and short of life.

"That's a tall order."
"Not so tall that you can't reach."

"...then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."

"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity - it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can."

"But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways."

"It's a question of brain over brawn."

"Strange in a familiar way, familiar in a strange way."

"Things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to, but what can you do? You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it."

"I felt shock. I felt a great emptiness within me, which then filled with silence. My chest hurt with pain and fear for days afterwards."

"I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now i will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen."

"The war of attrition. The waiting game. Passivity. Letting things happen. The unforgiving laws of nature. The relentless march of time and hoarding of resources."

"Only fear can defeat life"

"Quickly you make rush decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There, you've defeated yourself. Fear, which is bun an impression, has triumphed over you."

"It was all so, well, catlike."

"It is important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse. That bungled goodbye hurts me to this day. I wish so much that I'd had one last look at him in the lifeboat, that I'd provoked him a little, so that I was on his mind."