In general, literature is a natural adversary of totalitarianism. Tyrannical governments all view literature in the same way: as their enemy. I lived for a long time in a totalitarian state, and I know firsthand that horror.
Ismail Kadare
Related I realized that day that blessings come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. CRAIG GROESCHEL Imagine life as a game, a game that is filled with obstacles and hazards to overcome but sometimes y... GARY F EVANS... One's ideas must be as broad as Nature if they are to interpret Nature ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE You're full of contradictions, Ms. Wallace." I looked up at him and arched a brow. "I'm a girl... TAMMARA WEBBER The only way he could have her was to shatter this stubborn faith of hers. In doing so, would he sha... FRANCINE RIVERS If I provide for this life and turn away from the Lord, I am wise for a moment, but lost forever. FRANCINE RIVERS The only way he could have her was to shatter this stubborn faith of hers. In doing so, would he sha... FRANCINE RIVERS These philosophically fun ideas usually satisfy nobody. Nonetheless, they remind us that ignorance i... NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON I don't know if they're really like everybody else, or if they're able to pretend they are. MADELEINE L'ENGLE For those of us who take literature very seriously, picking up a work of fiction is the start of an ... EDITH GROSSMAN We each have a special something we can get only at a special time of our life. like a small flame. ... HARUKI MURAKAMI Allie, what do the Stars tell me to do? You know I don't understand the scientific part. ROBERT A. HEINLEIN The capacity of humans to believe in what seems to me highly improbable- from table tapping to the s... ROBERT A. HEINLEIN It is strange being in a crowd where no one knows your face or cares for your purpose. In Lykos, I w... PIERCE BROWN Dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible... The writer is the natural enemy of dictato... ISMAIL KADARE The idea of some kind of objectively constant, universal literary value is seductive. It feels real.... LEV GROSSMAN I'm a big believer in pairing classics with contemporary literature, so students have the opport... JOHN GREEN … I don't know what to say.' ‘That’s okay. Sometimes talking is like singing in a storm.�... ÉLISE TURCOTTE Now I could appreciate the merits of a broad, poetical, powerful interpretation, or rather it was to... MARCEL PROUST Never give up on you. In order to make a difference you would have to somehow be different. JOHNNIE DENT JR. I began by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, then history will... EDWARD R. MURROW Nothing dates like hate and in literature a little of it goes a very long way. CYRIL CONNOLLY It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing the... DAISAKU IKEDA the deceased don’t want you to forget about them. They just want you to move past it; not to dwell... JUSTIN PYFROM Even Lot might have been mistaken. But that’s what he promised ‘em – his virgin daughters, you... ROBERT A. HEINLEIN God is the strength in which I trust." Lesson 47, A Course In Miracles HELEN SCHUCMAN There isn't an hour of my life without you in it. I mend the boats, test them and all the while the ... NICHOLAS SPARKS In the same period, Polish literature also underwent some significant changes. From social-political... ANDRZEJ WAJDA You may take this as a general and central principle in criticism: that all science, literature or s... EDWARD EVERETT HALE Weird makes you truly sexy in a way the world can never know. CRAIG GROESCHEL When you've learned to both see and not see the resemblance, then you see the uniqueness. BARBARA KATZ ROTHMAN (All the grief she had suffered over her lifetime had moulded her face into a mask of eternal sadnes... JEAN SASSON Literature must become party literature. Down with unpartisan litterateurs! Down with the superman o... LENIN (VLADIMIR ULYANOV) Literature must become party literature. Down with unpartisan litterateurs! Down with the superman o... VLADIMIR LENIN She smiles like a Whatsapp Emoji" -My Girlfriend BANDILE M. MATSENJWA Chinatown is tremendously interesting... It's a part of the city that hasn't really been exp... S. J. ROZAN Real beauty has no boundaries’. PRAJAKTA MHADNAK By the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes--a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes. E.M. FORSTER He brings the greatest conflict into the history of mankind. He will come soon to our world just lik... TOBA BETA She would tuck Sam into her heart, a bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest. SARAH J. MAAS This instant is the only time there is. A COURSE IN MIRACLES I am never upset for the reason I think. A COURSE IN MIRACLES Perception is a mirror not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward. A COURSE IN MIRACLES Teach only love for that is what you are. A COURSE IN MIRACLES Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. A COURSE IN MIRACLES Only my condemnation injures me. A COURSE IN MIRACLES I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. A COURSE IN MIRACLES Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. A COURSE IN MIRACLES Only your mind can produce fear. A COURSE IN MIRACLES No, I am not imagining a book-burning, warmongering, anti-intellectual fascist regime – in my plan... KYOKO YOSHIDA People go on about places like Starbucks being unpersonal and all that, but what if that's what you ... NICK HORNBY Last year's Nobel prize has not only done irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also ... KNUT AHNLUND Nothing that is good can become stuck – and if it is stuck, it can’t be any good! SILVIA HARTMANN The story goes as the line follow... alone... loony.... ... That's what's happening.... DEYTH BANGER Needle in a haystack's easy - just bring a magnet." Eliot stared witheringly at Hardison.... KEITH R.A. DECANDIDO This is the spot where I will lie When life has had enough of me, These are the grasses ... SARA TEASDALE I've got no other home to go to, not anymore. When I look at England now I see a dead place, Rupert.... LEV GROSSMAN Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places, if you look at it right. GRATEFUL DEAD The world pays no attention to those who have nothing to offer BERNARD KELVIN CLIVE Tea followers were among the earliest converts to the Christian faith. Takayama Ukon, a daimyo turne... F. CALVIN PARKER I'm not so sure that horror should be dismissed as something less than literature. WHITLEY STRIEBER So time continued on slowly and painfully. Perhaps the old analogy of being a record stuck on repeat... ANNA AQUINO When you’re looking for a needle in a haystack, don’t afraid to burn the haystack to save yourse... A.J. DARKHOLME History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Literature has always been a part of my life. I studied history and literature in college. My mother... ELLIOT ACKERMAN I do not know of any environmental group in any country that does
not view its government as an adv... GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. My family was not nationally known as being a literary family, thoug... KENNETH KOCH I think there's always been, to some degree, a misunderstanding about what science fiction is al... ROBERT J. SAWYER Literature transmits incontrovertible condensed experience... from generation to generation. In this... ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN Beauty doesn't have to be about anything. What's a vase about? What's a sunset or a flower ab... DOUGLAS ADAMS I had a major bug for cities and for paintings and literature and all the things I thought went on i... GARTH RISK HALLBERG As a general rule, governments are unlimited in their powers. All free governments, perhaps all othe... SAMUEL FREEMAN MILLER I watched him even then as he fell, his face undefeated, his eyes still proud NEIL GAIMAN Literature is a state of culture, poetry is a state of grace, before and after culture. JUAN RAMON JIMENEZ Energy is an issue of national security in which governments, and the state companies that they have... JOHN BROWNE Literature that is not the breath of contemporary society, that dares not transmit the pains and fea... ALEXANDR SOLZHENITSYN Nothing is harmful to literature except censorship, and that almost never stops literature going whe... ALI SMITH The retailers of the world basically said, why aren't we treated in the same fashion? State governme... BRENT FRANK There is a tradition that sees journalism as the dark side of literature, with book writing at its z... EDUARDO GALEANO Being present is being connected to All Things. S. KELLEY HARRELL, M. DIV. If you live in the desert, view the sun not as your enemy, but as your friend. If you live in the wi... MATSHONA DHLIWAYO Learn to appreciate every moment of your life, stop thinking of the future too much, you have a choi... AULIQ ICE I read whenever possible, and I buy books all the time, sometimes online, but mostly from bookshops.... HANS-ULRICH OBRIST As one sat in the aeroplane amidst all the noise, smoking and loud talking, most unexpectedly, the s... JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI The Brightness of her cheek would shame those stars as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven woul... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE I am a literary animal. For me, everything ends in literature. CARLOS FUENTES What do I look for in a friend? You! ANTHONY T.HINCKS I've told you I don't live and die by the polls. Thus, I will refrain from pointing out that we're n... , IN THE NEW REPUBLIC The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, f... UNIVERSAL JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth. DOUG HUTCHISON It is not true that virtually all news in a totalitarian state is false. KONRAD ZUSE He wept because he was afraid now that he could not save Gabriel. He no longer cared about himself LOIS LOWRY History teachers help children climb mountains. JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS I have lived under totalitarian Communism, so I prize freedom as much as anyone and have long fought... OS GUINNESS Lawyers have an old saying: If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is on your si... - LAWYERS (IN GENERAL...) There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole. During an ambush, you're praying for everything a... WARREN ZINN The people that I liked and had not met went to the big cafes because they were lost in them and no ... ERNEST HEMINGWAY During the reign of Domitian (81-96 A.D.), Christians in Asia Minor were severely oppressed. The boo... F. CALVIN PARKER Toyohiko Kagawa, famed for his ministry to slum-dwellers, paid tribute to all three of Japan's major... F. CALVIN PARKER I am lost without you. I am soulless, a drifter without a home, a solitary bird in a flight to nowhe... NICHOLAS SPARKS
More Ismail Kadare
Dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible... The writer is the natural enemy of dictato... ISMAIL KADARE Having spent the greater part of my life under a Communist dictatorship, I am very familiar with the... ISMAIL KADARE We cannot deny that 80 or even 90 percent of the spiritual treasures from the past 3,000 years have ... ISMAIL KADARE For a writer, personal freedom is not so important. It is not individual freedom that guarantees the... ISMAIL KADARE If I manage to write something that I consider good and valuable in a particular place, that spot au... ISMAIL KADARE For a writer, New York works well. Literary work is very elitist. I worked two hours a day, maximum,... ISMAIL KADARE Guidebooks used to write the name of my city in two ways: Gjirokaster in Albanian, and Argyrokastron... ISMAIL KADARE In antiquity, there were three regions in southern Europe: Greece, Rome, and Ilyria. Albanian is the... ISMAIL KADARE The founding father of Albanian literature is the nineteenth-century writer Naim Frasheri. Without h... ISMAIL KADARE I consider I've had a good day when, among the lines I've written, I've produced from my... ISMAIL KADARE For me as a writer, Albanian is simply an extraordinary means of expression - rich, malleable, adapt... ISMAIL KADARE They said 'ski', but they heard 'vodka'! ISMAIL KADARE The great universal literature has always had a tragic relation with freedom. The Greeks renounced a... ISMAIL KADARE Doesn't the world see the suffering of millions of Palestinians who have been living in exile ar... ISMAIL HANIYEH Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up and decoration. But as time go... ISMAIL HANIYEH To be adjusted in changing situation is smartness ISMAIL HOSSAIN The family took it rather hard, they were very upset. AZIZAH ISMAIL I sometimes think about Mahatma Gandhi: when he was arrested...the movement continued. That is what ... AZIZAH ISMAIL Unfortunately the police acted wildly. This is another truth how the police have lost their sense of... AZIZAH ISMAIL If Dr. Mahathir thinks that by ordering the police to act like gangsters he will frighten the people... AZIZAH ISMAIL We've been trained to hope that a struggle requires sacrifice. Our family is sad. My children are de... AZIZAH ISMAIL In addition to removing our democratically elected government, Israel wants to sow dissent among Pal... ISMAIL HANIYEH Tens of thousands have been killed or wounded by the Israeli army since 1967. During 2006, the numbe... ISMAIL HANIYEH Today three-quarters of the Palestinian people are displaced: there are 5 million Palestinian refuge... ISMAIL HANIYEH We will talk about several issues including the shape of the political partnership in the coming sta... ISMAIL HANIYEH [Her husband, violinist Sanford Allen, rehearses Bach on his Stradivarius next door, for a recital u... ISMAIL MERCHANT There is nothing defined, but all that we have heard from the Arab and Islamic states, officially an... ISMAIL HANIYEH A lot of people have been, like, 'the university shouldn't be able to (stop free speech),' and they ... HUSSAIN ISMAIL The mixture of the Trinidadian people and the Indian people has caused a new culture to emerge. ISMAIL MERCHANT We promise you that we will not cede a single part of Palestine, we will not cede Jerusalem, we will... ISMAIL HANIYEH When they attacked my village they were shouting 'you are all rebels' - but we don't have any links ... SULEIMAN ISMAIL The occupier's retreat from Gaza and northern West Bank is a result of resistance. ISMAIL HANIYYE The sector is meandering sideways. JOE ISMAIL We are a free people. We've had democratic elections. ISMAIL HANIYEH The victory of Hamas is not only based on the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has a v... ISMAIL HANIYEH The Europeans and Americans have said the martyrdom operations are why Hamas has been put on the ter... ISMAIL HANIYEH Urdu can not die out because it has very strong roots in Persia. The language itself is not only jus... ISMAIL MERCHANT We were elected on a different political agenda. ISMAIL HANIYEH We came to say, the Quran is our constitution, we are committed to God and his holy book. God willin... ISMAIL HANIYEH We confirm to you this income will be used to pay the salaries of [government] employees and fund da... ISMAIL HANIYEH We call on you to transfer all aid to the Palestinian treasury. We assure you that all the revenues ... ISMAIL HANIYEH We agreed to hold a meeting as soon as he arrives in Gaza, in about two days time. ISMAIL HANIYEH There is no winner and loser here. The elections are just the first step on the way to building a Pa... ISMAIL HANIYEH This is a victory of the Palestinian people who voted against the occupation (by Israel in the West ... ISMAIL HANIYEH These weapons liberated the land and by these weapons, we will continue the liberation process. ISMAIL HANIYEH We will resolve these matters through dialogue when we are in government. All I can say is no police... ISMAIL HANIYEH We will deal with this difference in the political position through dialogue and understanding, to p... ISMAIL HANIYEH When the Israeli leaders launched their expansionist war in June 1967 they never envisaged that 40 y... ISMAIL HANIYEH Samantha is such an unselfish player. That's what makes a good player great — making everyone arou... HOLLY ISMAIL Whoever defames our prophet should be executed. Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up. ISMAIL HASSAN Whoever defames our prophet should be executed. Bin Laden, our beloved, Denmark must be blown up. ISMAIL HASSAN We seek to assure investors on the Palestinian bourse that we regard it as one of the fundamental ba... ISMAIL HANIYEH Every Palestinian family feels the effects of the international embargo. But the more the pressure o... ISMAIL HANIYEH These Israeli decisions are part of the policy of repression, terrorism and collective punishment ag... ISMAIL HANIYA We call on you to understand the priorities of our Palestinian people at this stage and continue the... ISMAIL HANIYEH Does someone believe that we can use guns to destroy a state that has F-16s and 200 nuclear warheads... ISMAIL HANIYA The U.S. administration and European countries should put pressure ... on the occupier and not the o... ISMAIL HANIYEH We call on you to transfer all aid to the Palestinian treasury. ISMAIL HANIYEH We have gotten some terrible reviews at times but if we depended on the judgment of the studios or c... ISMAIL MERCHANT I don't know why Abbas canceled the visit, but I hope he will arrive here soon. ISMAIL HANIYEH These decisions were hasty and unjust. ISMAIL HANIYA Clearly the aim of this escalation is to force the people to kneel down. The government is able to f... ISMAIL HANIYA A few words of Hindi appear here or there, but it's all Urdu. I feel that if the popular culture... ISMAIL MERCHANT I hope that Americans will give careful and well-informed thought to root causes and historical real... ISMAIL HANIYEH We don't have a state, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank. Gaza is under siege and the West Ba... ISMAIL HANIYEH The liberals and free people of the world will not like to see the Palestinian people living under s... ISMAIL HANIYEH I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving... ISMAIL HANIYEH The prison authorities said he is not allowed to send written papers outside the prison anymore. The... GAMEELA ISMAIL It's the same old stubborn regime playing the same old tricks. This is a police state and they don't... GAMEELA ISMAIL We have lots of complaints. People who come to vote here fear if they do the wrong thing, their sons... GAMEELA ISMAIL Down with (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak. GAMILA ISMAIL All this climate of terror give us a clear indication of the kind of sentence that Nur will receive. GAMILA ISMAIL Nobody will ever accept any withdrawal from what we have achieved. GAMILA ISMAIL قاطع انتخابات الرئاسة المصرية من أجل أن تنقذ احمد شفيق ... AHMED ISMAIL When she takes it strong to the basket, she can score on anybody at anytime. HOLLY ISMAIL It has been such a joy to work with her. When anyone says anything about Sam, I just smile inside. S... HOLLY ISMAIL Samantha is such an unselfish player. That's what makes a good player great making everyone aroun... HOLLY ISMAIL Sam has been phenomenal for us. She's an all-around great player. HOLLY ISMAIL Everybody thought they would run all over us, but I knew we could run with them. It just came down t... HOLLY ISMAIL Samantha was phenomenal. She's done everything for us all year, and I'm really proud of her effort. HOLLY ISMAIL In the beginning, we played nervous. I don't think we ever got in a groove. HOLLY ISMAIL The cartoons have showed us that they had tried to provoke anger by Muslims. ISMAIL YUSANTO This is great. The Palestinians have spoken and they want someone to continue the struggle against I... ISMAIL YUSANTO For more than 50 years of independence, we have seen secularist leaders destroy the country. ISMAIL YUSANTO For more than 50 year's of independence, we have seen secularist leaders destroy the country. ISMAIL YUSANTO Whoever defames our prophet should be executed. ISMAIL HASSAN We assure you that if we win, we will be at your service. ISMAIL HANIYAH We call on you to continue moral and financial support, and to direct all aid to the Palestinian tre... ISMAIL HANIYAH We assure that this money will be spent on employee salaries and day-to-day needs. ISMAIL HANIYAH The US administration and European countries should put pressure ... on the occupier and not the occ... ISMAIL HANIYA It's for the international community to put strong pressure on Israel to restore our rights and end ... ISMAIL HANIYA We are going to meet in the next few days to discuss the nature of our political partnership and a n... ISMAIL HANIYA The Israeli occupiers should recognize Palestinian rights first. ISMAIL HANIYA We will put the Palestinian house in order. ISMAIL HANIYA I call on the American administration to respect ... the will of the Palestinian people and the resu... ISMAIL HANIYA This is a historic day for Palestinians -- this is a great day. ISMAIL HANIYA It is a list for change and reform, composed of candidates from a new generation, our historic leade... ISMAIL HANIYA We will not rest until we liberate all Palestinian land, crowned by Jerusalem. ISMAIL HANIYA We are optimistic that our people will go to vote in this historical event. ISMAIL HANIYA This withdrawal from Gaza should be a real, comprehensive one, from the air, sea and our borders. Th... ISMAIL HANIEH The liberation of the Gaza Strip is not the end of the road to comprehensive liberation. We will not... ISMAIL HANIEH We will not rest until we liberate all Palestinian land, crowned by Jerusalem. ISMAIL HANIEH But our security forces have prevented the incidents from becoming bigger by behaving sensibly. Noth... ISMAIL CALISKAN I think we had a great response to the concert. Not just from the students but from labels, producer... HUSSAIN ISMAIL Thanks to God and the efforts of the working team, we succeeded to overcome these difficulties, and ... HUSAIN ISMAIL In addition, we have external auditors. The most important technologies applied to improve the refin... HUSAIN ISMAIL Every time we have about three days of downtrend, you get one or two days of positive moves in the s... JOE ISMAIL We have a good short-term bounce here, but until we retest the 12,080 mark, we may see a bit of prof... JOE ISMAIL Since gold prices are stuck in that range, gold-mining stocks are not going to move very much either... JOE ISMAIL Gold is not quite ready yet to move in the upward bias. JOE ISMAIL As the week progresses, we might see a bit of short-term strength with window-dressing before the en... JOE ISMAIL Any corrective phase that will come in the near term could be a shallow one. JOE ISMAIL We've had a lackluster market in the past several days, so we might see the market at least get a gr... JOE ISMAIL We will have carry through from yesterday. But after three days of strong gains, I think it will pro... JOE ISMAIL Crude prices remain volatile and that is where the Canadian market will carry on from yesterday's ga... JOE ISMAIL Energy, as usual, it's carrying on forward. JOE ISMAIL Anybody who asks for democracy to be introduced should respect the results of democracy. ISMAIL HANIYEH abundant feeling of your presence in front of Allah is enjoy full solitude state where you are in bo... M. ISMAIL SHAIKH Choose to stand higher then the clouds. Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you'll land amongs t... AMEER MOHAMMED ISMAIL Love might not always take you to your hights. But to stand out to something that's more than you. C... AMEER MOHAMMED ISMAIL It's started. All of the vents are open. ISMAIL ABDEL VETAH Don't frame up all your emotions. Like a house without any windows it becomes depression, live to wa... AMEER MOHAMMED ISMAIL This is your road. Some people may walk it with you, but no one will walk it for you. AMEER MOHAMMED ISMAIL The 24th (of February) is the deadline. ISMAIL ABDEL VETAH We still have almost three months to try to find an amicable solution, otherwise it will be the Inte... ISMAIL ABDEL VETAH By 2007 the Chinese plan to have wells in this zone. They'll probably be the first. ISMAIL ABDEL VETAH Muslim children should be raised with the understanding that once they hit puberty they are adults a... ABU MUAWIYAH ISMAIL KAMDAR