Two children of same cruel parent look at one another and see in each other the image of the cruel parent or the image of their past oppressor. This is very much the case between Jew and Arab: It's a conflict between two victims.
Amos OzRead
When I was little, my ambition was to grow up to be a book. Not a writer. People can be killed like ants. Writers are not hard to kill either. But not books: however systematically you try to destroy them, there is always a chance that a copy will survive and continue to enjoy a shelf-life in some corner on an out-of-the-way library somehwere in Reykjavik, Valladolid or Vancouver.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire for permanence and the enduring power of books over human life.
Amos Oz reflects on his childhood ambition to become a book rather than a writer, highlighting the ephemeral nature of human life in contrast to the lasting impact of literature. He suggests that while writers and people can vanish easily, books have the unique ability to survive destruction and provide knowledge and enjoyment across time and place, ultimately leaving a trace in the world.
Themes
BooksLiteratureImmortalityKnowledgeEndurance
In practice
Example use cases
During a book fair, one could quote this to highlight the significance of preserving literature.
More from Amos Oz
All quotes →If we don't stop somewhere, if we don't accept an unhappy compromise, unhappy for both sides, if we don't learn how to unhappily coexist and contain our burned sense of injustice - if we don't learn how to do that, we end up in a doomed state.
Amos OzRead
Fundamentalist s live life with an exclamation point. I prefer to live my life with a question mark.
Amos OzRead
Writing a poem is like having an affair, a one-night stand; a short story is a romance, a relationship; a novel is a marriage-one has to be cunning, devise compromises, and make sacrifices.
Amos OzRead
I have seen for the first time in 100 years of conflict, the two peoples - the Israeli people and the Palestinian people - are ahead of their leaderships.
Amos OzRead
She had not wanted him to but had let him have his way because ever since she was a child she had generally yielded before anyone with strong willpower, especially if it was a man, not because she was naturally submissive, but because strong male willpower gave her a feeling of safety and trust, together with acceptance and a desire to give in.
Amos OzRead
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