"You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, by his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars. . . There are lunatics who don't bring up the Templars, but thsoe who do are the most indisidious. At first they seem normal, then all of a sudden. . ."
Casauban delivers this speech concerning the variety of insanity. In speaking of lunatics, he says they inevitably become involved with or obsessed by conspiracies like the Templars. His statement here is ironic because he talks about those that appear normal at first because they never bring up conspiracies, but they turn out to be the worst kind. He's describing exactly the group's relationship to Allier, who turns out to be the craziest one of all.
"Well, Diotallevi and I are planning a reform in higher education. A School of Comparative Irrelevance, where useless or impossible courses are given. The school's aim is to turn out scholars capable of endlessly increasing the number of unnecessary subjects."
Belbo endears himself to Casaubon by pointing out the deficiencies of higher education, to which Casaubon was already informed. In doing so Belbo establishes himself as a critic, capable of analytical rationale. His reform idea, here, is humorous because he is pointing to the natural irrelevance of higher education in light of the specificity of information available to be studied in relation to the multitude of practical skills which college students lack.
"'You live on the surface,' Lia told me years later. 'You sometimes seem profound, but it's only because you piece a lot of surfaces together to create the impression of depth, solidity. That solidity would collapse if you try to stand it up."'
Lia recognizes the delicate balance of Casaubon's psychology. He acquires information in order to present himself a certain way, using knowledge as a defense mechanism. In reality he's untethered from himself, unwilling to love himself in the ways which he truly needs to experience love. For her part, Lia can see his pain, but she can't fulfill that void for him, merely draw his attention to it.
"You're innocent, Casaubon. You ran away instead of throwing stones, you got your degree, you didn't shoot anybody. Yet a few years ago I felt you, too, were blackmailing me. Nothing personal, just generational cycles."
In this quotation Belbo alludes to Casaubon's college days as well as acknowledging their vast age difference, he being Casaubon's senior by several generations. The era in which this novel is set -- the 1970s, -- in Italy, was characterized by radical liberal student movements which contributed to national crime, economic instability, and sometimes even perpetuated violence. Because college was free, young people who couldn't find work ended up in the universities, but the institutions themselves were ill equipped for so many people. The students found themselves engaged in a futile pursuit with nothing to do but blame the government. Belbo is referring to this violence by trying to reassure Casaubon that he simultaneously is a paragon and an exception to his generation.
