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.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the impact of one's era on individual choices and circumstances.
Gunter Grass highlights the idea that every individual is shaped by the historical context and societal conditions they are born into. He expresses a desire to shield people from the hardships and limitations present during challenging times, emphasizing the importance of recognizing how era-specific circumstances can influence personal opportunities and decisions.
In practice
In a speech about social change, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of historical context in shaping societal issues.
I 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.
Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
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.
Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
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.
I belonged to the generation that grew up under National Socialism, and was blinded and led astray - and allowed itself to be led astray.
I believe in goodness, mercy and charity. I believe in casting bread upon the waters.
Saving the world was merely a hobby. My *vocation* has been that of_x000D_ inspector of desert water holes.
Now I am discovering the world once more. England has widened my horizon.
The injuries that befall us unexpectedly are less severe than those which are deliberately anticipated.
He [Napoleon] was as great as a man can be without morality.
If in a discussion of many matters ... we are not able to give perfectly exact and self-consistent accounts, do not be surprised: rather we would be content if we provide accounts that are second to none in probability.
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