“The house is full of remnants, it emprisons us in its memory of sorrows—they are on the entryway carpet, on the floors, in the corners of the living room, in the kitchen right up to the sink; they stop there, then they start off again toward the balcony, and there, stuck for eternity, between the eleventh and twelfth banister: minuscule, powerful claws caught in the little squares of lattice-work. In vain we return there. Everything is there still, the strong smell like an unforgettable name, phantom vision; it’s as if I saw you, I see it again, we see it. The whole house is now a mausoleum.”

Shared at dawn | Translated by Keith Cohen | Hélène Cixous

#hélènecixous #quotes #memory #frombooks