desolation

all quotes from desolation by yasmina reza

"'what's the point of using all these definitions with me? i'm an old lady now, i'm no longer susceptible to the charms of contrarians like you. you think you're being provocative and you're just being predictable' (your sister used the word dense, remember?). 'unlike arthur i don't think there's any reason to reproach you for the blinkered way you see the world, but why do you feel obliged to belittle it at every given moment? your standpoint on this story is the standpoint of someone who's fallen out of love. as a standpoint it's devoid of affection, it doesn't carry much authority, if you want to know what i think, and it certainly doesn't merit being broadcast. people we no longer love no longer carry any credit with us and everything they do seems artificial. when we're in love, obviously,' she went on after a hesitation, 'we blindly cultivate every magic pull of enchantment'"

"'his words were chosen with such nonchalant cruelty that i can barely reproduce their power to wound. 'everything is for the best, my dear. what years of hesitations and agonizing doubt couldn't bring me to do, you have achieved with decisive grace and the lightest of touches. you've finally set me free, genevieve. and i must admit something to you: while it would have been almost impossible for me to get there on my own, i sincerely envy the ease, the flick of the wrist, with which you eliminated me.''"

"and i would say to him don't let yourself be upset my boy, by my deplorable rantings, with the people i love, i like to explore the precipice, i like extreme danger. i make myself odious, i make myself utterly ugly to test your affection. when it comes to ugliness, i can scale everest."