Everyone is born into a certain era. I wouldn't want to see anyone faced with the circumstances that prevailed at the time, when there were few or no alternatives.
Gunter GrassRead
We already have the statistics for the future: the growth percentages of pollution, overpopulation, desertification. The future is already in place.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that the future consequences of current environmental issues are already measurable.
Gunter Grass highlights that the alarming statistics regarding pollution, overpopulation, and desertification serve as a clear indication of the future we are headed toward. By stating 'the future is already in place,' he points out the urgency of addressing these critical issues, which have already been set in motion by our present actions. It serves as a call to action to understand the implications of our current path and to make necessary changes to secure a sustainable future.
Themes
PollutionFutureOverpopulationDesertificationEnvironment
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about climate change, to emphasize the urgency of addressing pollution.
More from Gunter Grass
All quotes βI wept when the muse Ulla bent over me. Blinded by tears I could not prevent her from kissing me, I could not prevent the Muse from giving me that terrible kiss. All of you who have ever been kissed by the Muse will surely understand that Oskar, once branded by that kiss, was condemned to take back the drum he had rejected years before, the drum he had buried in the sand of Sapse Cemetery.
Gunter GrassRead
Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
Gunter GrassRead
I did not volunteer for the Waffen SS, but was, as were thousands of my year group, conscripted. I did not then know as a 17-year-old that it was a criminal unit. I thought it was an elite unit.
Gunter GrassRead
Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
Gunter GrassRead
If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come to coincide: an age without conflict will dawn, perpetually busy - and without consciousness.
Gunter GrassRead
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