"She got home at half past one. Tomas was asleep. His hair gave off the aroma of a woman's groin"
"Where upon the man would lower the barrel of his rifle and say in a gentle voice, ¨*If it wasn't your choice, I can't do it. I have'nt the right.*
And she would turn her face to the bark of the tree and burst into tears."
"That night, she made love to him with greater frenzy than ever before, aroused by the realization that this was the last time. Making love, she was far, far away. Once more she heard the golden horn of betrayl beckoning her in the distance, and she knew she she would not hold out...Franz sobbed as he lay on top of her; he was certain he understood: Sabina had been quiet all through dinner and said not a word about his decision, but this was her answer. She had made a clear show of her joy, her passion, her consent, her desire to live with him forever.
Each was riding the other like a horse, and both were galloping off into the distance of their desires, drunk on the betrayals that freed them. Franz was riding Sabina and had betrayed his wife; Sabina was riding Franz and had betrayed Franz."
"Somewhere out in space there was a planet where all people would be born again. They would be fully aware of the life they had spent on earth and of all experience they had amassed here. And perhaps there were yet more and more planets, where mankind would be born one degree more mature.
Only from the perspective of such a utopia is it possible to use the concepts of pessimism and optimism with full justification: an optimist is someone who thinks that on planet number five the history of manking will be less bloddy. A pessimist is one who thinks otherwise."