ELIAS CANETTI

The Agony of Flies

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People should not make a virtue out of their sensitivity. They may experience it and preserve it as it was experienced. But they should not adorn themselves with it. Sensitivity will make an addict out of anyone who displays its medals on his chest. He will require more and more objects to enable him to demonstrate his sensitivity, and if he runs out of them, he will simply make things up - and his sensitivity will then reveal itself for what it is: precious, brittle, and rotted through and through.

ELIAS CANETTI

The Agony of Flies

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To read while the clock is audibly ticking:
Responsible reading.

To read while all the clocks have stopped:
Happy reading.

ELIAS CANETTI

The Agony of Flies
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It isn’t being alone that I need to know, for that comes easy to me. I like being alone; what I need to learn is how to keep silent around people … It doesn’t matter to whom my words are addressed or whether or not they are understood; the words in themselves have a horrifying and devastating effect on me. They are too strong; I need to muffle them by writing them down … I myself cannot evade my words; I am at their mercy; I take them in whole; I understand them fully and they shake me the way a storm shakes up the sea.

ELIAS CANETTI

The Agony of Flies

____________________

To read while the clock is audibly ticking:
Responsible reading.

To read while all the clocks have stopped:
Happy reading.