Natalia Ginzburg

suspicions: ‘but do you exist?’ we ask her, and she swears that she exists, and we are infinitely happy.

we don’t have an umbrella – we would rather commit suicide than go out with an umbrella; we don’t have an umbrella or a hat or gloves or the tram fare: a

tell the person who lives with us all our thoughts, while we are eating soup at our well-lit table; it doesn’t seem worth the effort to tell other people anything.

We did not know that there could be such fear, such frailty, in our body: we never suspected that we could feel so bound to life by a chain of fear, of such heart-rending tenderness

How strong and free our past was, when we walked alone at will through the city! We felt such pity for the families we saw

the strangest desires come to us, desires we would never have dreamed we could have when we walked through the city alone and free; we would like an umbrella-stand and a coatrack, towels, a camping oven, a refrigerator.

we have lost every ability to think of ourselves or enjoy ourselves.

We are still shy. Only, it doesn’t matter; it seems that our claim to be shy has been conquered for us; we are shy without shyness, boldly shy.

they were illogical and incoherent but they never realised this; they constantly contradicted themselves but they never allowed anyone to contradict them

They deafened us with their thunderous words: a dialogue was impossible because as soon as they suspected that they were wrong they ordered us to be quiet: they beat their fists on the table and made the room shake.