Darkness Moves Quotes

“He who has rejected his demons badgers us to death with his angels.”
― Henri Michaux, Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology, 1927-1984

“At the age of eight, I still dreamed of being granted plant status.”
― Henri Michaux, Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology, 1927-1984

“I was full of them. I had
stopped being unfilled. Everything was perfection. I had no need to think, or weigh, or
criticize, any more. No need to compare any more. My horizontal was now vertical. I
existed at a height. I had not lived in vain.”
― Henri Michaux, Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology, 1927-1984

“I begin to write, almost without realizing it, without thinking, busy transmitting these words I don't recognize, although they are highly significant: "Too much! Too much! You're giving me too much!”
― Henri Michaux, Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology, 1927-1984

“I have cursed your forehead your belly your life
I have cursed the streets your steps plod through
The things your hands pick up
I have cursed the inside of your dreams
I have set a puddle in your eye that can't see any more
An insect in your ear that can't hear any more
A sponge in your brain that can't understand any more
I have frozen you in the soul of your body
Iced you in the depths of your life
The air you breathe suffocates you
The air you breathe has the air of a cellar
Is an air that has already been exhaled
been puffed out by hyenas
The dung of this air is something no one can breathe
Your skin is damp all over
Your skin sweats out waters of the great fear
Your armpits reek far and wide of the crypt
Animals stop dead as you pass
Dogs howl at night, their heads raised toward your house
You can't run away
You can't muster the strength of an ant to the tip of your feet
Your fatigue makes a lead stump in your body
Your fatigue is a long caravan
Your fatigue stretches out to the country of Nan
Your fatigue is inexpressible
Your mouth bites you
Your nails scratch you
No longer yours, your wife
No longer yours, your brother
The sole of his foot bitten by an angry snake
Someone has slobbered on your descendants
Someone has slobbered on the laugh of your little girl
Someone has walked slobbering by the face of your domain
The world moves away from you
I am rowingo
I am rowing
I am rowing against your life
I am rowing
I split into countless rowers
To row more strongly against you
You fall into blurriness
You are out of breath
You get tired before the slightest effort
I row
I row
I row”
― Henri Michaux, Darkness Moves: An Henri Michaux Anthology, 1927-1984