Suffering

W. sends me a quotation of measureless profundity for me to keep with the others, he says.

Suffering is by no means a privilege, a sign of nobility, a reminder of God. Suffering is a fierce, bestial thing, commonplace, uncalled for, natural as air. It is intangible; no one can grasp it or fight against it; it dwells in time – is the same thing as time; if it comes in fits and starts, that is only so as to leave the sufferer more defenseless during the moments that follow, those long moments when one relives the last bout of torture and waits for the next.

It's from Cesare Pavese's diary, W. says. We ought to kneel before this page. Are you kneeling now?, he asks me on the phone. Go on, fat boy, kneel!