Umberto Eco dies aged 84

"How does a person feel when looking at the sky? He thinks that he doesn’t have enough tongues to describe what he sees. Nevertheless, people have never stopping describing the sky, simply listing what they see... We have a limit, a very discouraging, humiliating limit: death. That’s why we like all the things that we assume have no limits and, therefore, no end. It’s a way of escaping thoughts about death. We like lists because we don’t want to die." 

A bestselling novelist, semiotician, philosopher, essayist, literary critic... no matter the form, Umberto Eco explored the intricacies of human behaviour, love and literature with grace and nuance. Here are some of his best quotes.