The diseased, anyway, are more interesting than the healthy. The words of the diseased, even those who can manage only a murmur, carry more weight than those of the healthy. Then, too, all healthy people will in the future know disease. That sense of time, ah, the diseased man’s sense of time, what treasure hidden in a desert cave. Then, too the diseased truly bite, whereas the healthy pretend to bite but really only snap at the air. Then, too, then, too, then, too.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the depth and insight of those who have experienced suffering compared to the healthy who may lead superficial lives.
Roberto Bolano suggests that individuals who carry the burden of disease or suffering possess a unique perspective on life that enriches their communication and understanding of existence. Their experiences allow them to appreciate the fragility of life and time in ways that those who have not suffered cannot. The 'diseased' have insights and truths that are often overlooked by the 'healthy', who may lead lives that lack depth and genuine emotion. This can underscore the importance of empathy and the value of learning from those who face hardship.
In practice
In a discussion about the value of experience during a mental health awareness event.
Coincidence obeys no laws and if it does we don't know what they are. Coincidence, if you'll permit me the simile, is like the manifestation of God at every moment on our planet. A senseless God making senseless gestures at his senseless creatures. In that hurricane, in that osseous implosion, we find communion.
The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.
I'd obviously never heard of the group, but my ignorance in literary matters is to blame for that (every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me).
Every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me.
Bright colours in the west, giant butterflies dancing as night crept like a cripple toward the east.
Being alone makes us stronger. That’s the honest truth. But it’s cold comfort, since even if I wanted company no one will come near me anymore.
Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the profitably lived life is not worth examining.
Not that our salvation should be the effect of our work, but our work should be the evidence of our salvation.
A soul that is reluctant to share does not as a rule have much of its own. Miserliness is here a symptom of meagerness.
Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts - the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art.
Some of the comments that have been uttered about Islam do not reflect the sentiments of my government or the sentiments of most Americans. Islam, as practiced by the vast majority of people, is a peaceful religion, a religion that respects others. Ours is a country based upon tolerance and we welcome people of all faiths in America.
Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide.
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