stalker – monologue

may everything come true.
may they believe.

and may they laugh at their own passions.
for what they call passion
is not really the energy of the soul,
but merely friction between the soul,
and the outside world.

but, above all, may they believe in themselves
and become as helpless as children.

for softness is great and strength is worthless.

when a man is born, he is soft and pliable.
when he dies, he is strong and hard.

when a tree grows, it is soft and pliable.
but when it is dry and hard, it dies.

hardness and strength are death’s companions.
flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life.

that which has become hard shall not triumph.

1hr6m40s mark
bottom of a well, dark, turbulent, water churning
stalker
andrei tarkovsky, 1979
criterion collection edition no. 888