“Already then something was lost forever, a basic trust.”
Source: Beatrice & Virgil (2010), p. 175
Context: I remember the first slap, just as I was being brought in. Already then something was lost forever, a basic trust. If there's an exquisite collection of Meissen porcelain and a man takes a cup and deliberately drops it to the floor, shattering it, why wouldn't he then proceed to break everything else? What difference does it make, cup or tureen, once the man has made clear his disregard for porcelain? With that first blow, something akin to porcelain shattered in me. It was a hard slap, forceful yet casual, given for no reason, before I had even identified myself. If they would do that to me, why wouldn't they do worse? Indeed, how could they stop themselves? A single blow is a dot, meaningless. It's a line that is wanted, a connection between the dots that will give purpose and direction. One blow demands a second and then a third and onwards.
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Yann Martel 108
Canadian author best known for the book Life of Pi 1963Related quotes
“Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. ”
“The time for trusting women's gone forever!”
XI. 456 (tr. Robert Fagles).
Alexander Pope's translation:
: For since of womankind so few are just,
Think all are false, nor even the faithful trust.
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)
“Weep for what is lost forever.”
Moiraine Damodred
(15 January 1990)
Source: South of the Border, West of the Sun
“But there are certain meanings that are lost forever the moment they are explained in words.”
IQ84 (2009-2010)
Variant: It is not that the meaning cannot be explained. But there are certain meanings that are lost forever the moment they are explained in words.
Source: 1Q84