All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
After every war someone has to tidy up.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The aftermath of conflict requires effort to restore order and peace.
This quote by Wislawa Szymborska highlights the often-overlooked reality that wars, while fighting for certain ideals, leave behind a significant burden of consequences. It serves as a reminder that the resolution of conflicts is not just about the end of fighting, but also about the long and challenging process of reconstruction and healing that follows, requiring patience and commitment from society.
Themes
WarPeaceReconstructionResponsibilityConflict
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the responsibilities nations face after conflicts.
More from Wislawa Szymborska
All quotes βI started earning a living as a poet rather early on.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
But they know about us, they know, the four corners, and the chairs nearby us. Discerning shadows also know, and even the table keeps quiet.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
I've reached the age of self-knowledge, so I don't know anything. People who claim that they know something are responsible for most of the fuss in the world.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
Similar quotes
We will be a better country when each religious group can trust its members to obey the dictates of their own religious faith without assistance from the legal structure of the country.
Margaret MeadRead
Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.
Tirumalai KrishnamacharyaRead
I have no religious belief myself, but I don't think we should fight about it. In particular, I think that we should not rubbish moderate religious leaders like the Archbishop of Canterbury because I think we all agree that extreme fundamentalism is a threat, and we need all the allies we can muster against it.
Martin ReesRead
For all parts of the body that we see fit to expose to the wind and air are found fit to endure it: face, feet, hands, legs, shoulders, head, according as custom invites us. For if there is a part of us that is tender and that seems as though it should fear the cold, it should be the stomach, where digestion takes place; our fathers left it uncovered, and our ladies, soft and delicate as they are, sometimes go half bare down to the navel.
Michel De MontaigneRead
It will always be the same possibilities, in sum or on the average, that go on repeating themselves until a man comes along who does not value the actuality above idea. It is he who first gives the new possibilities their meaning, their direction, and he awakens them.
Robert MusilRead
Do you honestly believe God likes you, not just loves you because theologically God has to love you?
Brennan ManningRead