Books mean all possibilities. They mean moving out of yourself, losing yourself, dying of thirst and living to your full. They mean everything.
Interpretation
Books open the door to endless possibilities and experiences beyond oneself.
In this quote, Ali Smith emphasizes the transformative power of books. They are not just sources of information; they allow individuals to explore new worlds, lose themselves in stories, and experience the full spectrum of life through the words of others. By engaging with literature, we can expand our horizons and discover new aspects of our existence.
In practice
During a speech at a literary festival, I might say, 'As Ali Smith profoundly puts it, books mean all possibilities.'
Tonight I can smell the season the way it's usually only possible to at the very first moments of its return, before you're used to it, when you've forgotten its smell, then there it is back in the air and the flow of things shifting and resettling again.
And it was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with. They balanced us high above any crevasse. They made us be natural acrobats. They made us brave. They met us well. They changed us. It was in their nature to.
It's about the connecting force from form to form. It's the toe bone connecting to the shoulder bone. It's the bacterial kick of life force, something growing out of nothing, forming itself out of something else. Form never stops. And form is always environmental.
Google is so strange. It promises everything, but everything isnβt there. You type in the words for what you need, and what you need becomes superfluous in an instant, shadowed instantaneously by the things you really need, and none of them answerable by Google.
Don't be afraid! We won't make an author of you, while there's an honest trade to be learnt, or brick-making to turn to.
But because we've all been readers, we know what the experience is like, and we hope that what certain writers have given to us, we will give to someone.
If we truly believe that every girl in every corner of the globe is worthy of an education as our own daughters and granddaughters are, then we need to deepen our commitment to these efforts.
High school is neither a democracy nor a dictatorship - nor, contrary to popular belief, an anarchic state. High school is a divine-right monarchy. And when the queen goes on vacation, things change.
A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion.
Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilize her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life
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