Unlike Joseph her husband, Mary is neither upright nor pious, but she is not blame for this, the blame lies with the language she speaks if not with the men who invented it, because that language has no feminine form for the words upright and pious.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on gender bias in language and how it shapes perception and identity.
In this quote, José Saramago highlights the limitations of language in expressing female virtues, implying that Mary, despite her lack of traditional uprightness and piety, should not be blamed for societal constraints dictated by language. The absence of feminine forms in certain words reveals deeper societal issues regarding women’s roles and how they are perceived, suggesting that language itself can undermine women's identities and worth.
In practice
In a discussion about gender equality, this quote could illustrate the impact of language on women's roles.
Why did we become blind, I don't know, perhaps one day we'll find out, Do you want me to tell you what I think, Yes, do, I don't think we did go blind, I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.
I can't imagine myself outside any kind of social or political involvement. Yes, I'm a writer, but I live in this world, and my writing doesn't exist on a separate level. And if people know who I am and read my books, well, good; that way, if I have something more to say, then everyone benefits.
...you have to leave the island in order to see the island, that we can't see ourselves unless we become free of ourselves, Unless we escape from ourselves you mean, No, that's not the same thing.
Whether we like it or not, the one justification for the existence of all religions is death, they need death as much as we need bread to eat.
With the passage of time, as well as the social evolution and genetic exchange, we ended up putting our conscience in the color of our blood and the salt of our tears.
En ningún momento de la historia, en ningún lugar del planeta, las religiones han servido para que los seres humanos se acerquen unos a los otros. Por el contrario, sólo han servido para separar, para quemar, para torturar. No creo en dios, no lo necesito y además soy buena persona.
Individual potential of life is cosmic potential. Individual is divine deep inside. Transcendental experience awakens that divinity in man. And when you kill a man you deprive him of that birthright of it.
And the men who loan money to governments, so called, for the purpose of enabling the latter to rob, enslave, and murder their people, are among the greatest villains that the world has ever seen. And they as much deserve to be hunted and killed (if they cannot otherwise be got rid of) as any slave traders, robbers, or pirates that ever lived.
Global terrorism is extreme both in its lack of realistic goals and in its cynical exploitation of the vulnerability of complex systems.
The only possible idea of India is that of a nation greater than the sum of its parts.
All power is in essence power to deny mortality.
There's a moon in my body, but I can't see it! A moon and a sun._x000D_ A drum never touched by hands, beating, and I can't hear it!
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.