True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Milan Kundera on power
The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. Milan Kundera on power
Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. Milan Kundera on respect
To be a writer does not mean to preach a truth, it means to discover a truth. Milan Kundera on truth
The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything. Milan Kundera on wisdom
The novelist teaches the reader to comprehend the world as a question. There is wisdom and tolerance in that attitude. In a world built on sacrosanct certainties the novel is dead. Milan Kundera on wisdom