In the dark colony of night, when I consider man's magnificent capacity for malice, madness, folly, envy, rage, and destructiveness, and I wonder whether we shall not end up as breakfast for newts and polyps, I seem to hear the muffled cries of all the words in all the books with covers closed.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on humanity's darker traits and foreshadows a grim future, while emphasizing the value of knowledge and literature.
Leo Rosten's quote contemplates the destructive aspects of human nature, such as malice and rage, and poses a dire question about the fate of humanity amidst these tendencies. It suggests that in the midst of darkness, there is a silent but powerful call from the knowledge contained in unwritten books, urging us to recognize and confront our flaws instead of succumbing to them.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of literature in understanding human nature, one could cite this quote to emphasize its relevance.
Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers. The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.
I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.
I came to believe it not true that "the coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man only one." I think it is the other way around: It is the brave who die a thousand deaths. For it is imagination, and not just conscience, which doth make cowards of us all. Those who do not know fear are not truly brave.
The fellow who laughs last may laugh best, but he gets the reputation of being very slow-witted.
Words sing. They hurt. They teach. They sanctify. They were man's first, immeasurable feat of magic. They liberated us from ignorance and our barbarous past.
The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make a difference that you lived at all-using the talents that God has given you for the betterment of others.
Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.
Life is painful and disappointing. It is useless, therefore, to write new realistic novels. We generally know where we stand in relation to reality and don’t care to know any more.
If you are happy in a dream, Ammu, does that count? Estha asked. "Does what count?" "The happiness does it count?". She knew exactly what he meant, her son with his spoiled puff. Because the truth is, that only what counts, counts....."If you eat fish in a dream, does it count?" Does it mean you've eaten fish?
Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.
There is a dark side in all of us. And for us 'bad' people, the bad side dominates. I think there is a great sadness in villains, and I have tried to put that across. We cannot stop ourselves doing what we are doing.
The character of God is today, and always will be, exactly what it was in Bible times.
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