QuoteProject
Arabic is very twisting, very beautiful. The call to prayer is quite haunting; it almost makes you a believer on the spot.
John Updike
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the beauty and emotional impact of the Arabic language and its call to prayer.

John Updike's observation about Arabic captures its intricate beauty and the profound effect it can have on listeners, particularly through the call to prayer. He suggests that the language's musicality and depth are so compelling that they can inspire an immediate sense of faith or reverence in those who hear it.

Themes

ArabicBeautyCall To PrayerLanguageFaith

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a discussion about the influence of language on culture.

More from John Updike

If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
John UpdikeRead
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
John UpdikeRead
But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
John UpdikeRead
The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
John UpdikeRead
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
John UpdikeRead

Similar quotes

When I have had such men before my camera my whole soul has endeavored to do its duty towards them in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the features of the outer man. The photograph thus taken has been almost the embodiment of a prayer.
Julia Margaret CameronRead
I consider chess an art, and accept all those responsibilities which art places upon its devotees.
Alexander AlekhineRead
Force yourself to write down what is of no interest, what is most obvious, most common, most colourless...antique shops, clothes, hi-fi, etc. Don't say, don't write 'etc'. Make an effort to exhaust the subject, even if that seems grotesque, or pointless, or stupid. You still haven't looked at anything, you've merely picked out what you've long ago picked out.
Georges PerecRead
All the soarings of my mind begin in my blood.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
Musical comedies aren't written, they are rewritten.
Stephen SondheimRead
As an artist, I used to think that my responsibility was to do good work. But I had to learn from the '70s on that being a public figure presents another aspect of responsibility.
Patti SmithRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.