In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
What I'm concerned with is what I would call the missing history - the invisible imprint of our stay on Earth and in time.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the subtle influences and legacies we leave behind that often go unnoticed.
Svetlana Alexievich's quote prompts us to consider the intangible and often overlooked aspects of our existence that contribute to the broader narrative of humanity. It suggests that while physical achievements may be documented, the emotional and spiritual impacts we have on the world and each other form a 'missing history' that is equally significant, emphasizing our shared experiences and the nuanced traces we leave in time.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of acknowledging lesser-known historical figures.
In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
The subjects I wanted to write about - the mystery of the human soul, evil - didn't interest newspapers, and news reporting bored me.
'Women's' war has its own colors, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. There are no heroes and incredible feats; there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.
There is no need to give in to the compromise that totalitarian regimes always count on.
I've been searching for a genre that would be most adequate to my vision of the world to convey how my ear hears and my eyes see life. I tried this and that, and finally, I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves. But I don't just record a dry history of events and facts; I'm writing a history of human feelings.
From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.
We are not only to renounce evil, but to manifest the truth. We tell people the world is vain; let our lives manifest that it is so. We tell them that our home is above and that all these things are transitory. Does our dwelling look like it? O to live consistent lives!
Spiritual power is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest force in the development of men. Ye. we have been merely playing with it and never have really studied it as we have the physical forces. Some day people will learn that material things do not bring happiness, and are of little use in making people creative and powerful. Then the scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to the study of spiritual forces which have hardly been scratched.
For the Christian, humility is absolutely indispensable. Without it there can be no self-knowledge, no repentance, no faith and no salvation.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical.
Shh! Listen! Someoneβs coming! I think β I think it might be us!
I'd rather there wasn't an afterlife, really. I'd much rather not be me for thousands of years.
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