Everyone is born into a certain era. I wouldn't want to see anyone faced with the circumstances that prevailed at the time, when there were few or no alternatives.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the impact of one's era on individual choices and circumstances.
Gunter Grass highlights the idea that every individual is shaped by the historical context and societal conditions they are born into. He expresses a desire to shield people from the hardships and limitations present during challenging times, emphasizing the importance of recognizing how era-specific circumstances can influence personal opportunities and decisions.
In practice
In a speech about social change, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of historical context in shaping societal issues.
I wept when the muse Ulla bent over me. Blinded by tears I could not prevent her from kissing me, I could not prevent the Muse from giving me that terrible kiss. All of you who have ever been kissed by the Muse will surely understand that Oskar, once branded by that kiss, was condemned to take back the drum he had rejected years before, the drum he had buried in the sand of Sapse Cemetery.
Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
I did not volunteer for the Waffen SS, but was, as were thousands of my year group, conscripted. I did not then know as a 17-year-old that it was a criminal unit. I thought it was an elite unit.
Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come to coincide: an age without conflict will dawn, perpetually busy - and without consciousness.
I belonged to the generation that grew up under National Socialism, and was blinded and led astray - and allowed itself to be led astray.
The death sentence is a barbaric act.
The optimist sees a light at the end of the tunnel, the realist sees a train entering the tunnel, the pessimist sees a train speeding at him, hell for leather, and the machinist sees three idiots sitting on the rail track. "The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears this is true."
The Judge does not make the law. It is people that make the law. Therefore if a law is unjust, and if the Judge judges according to the law, that is justice, even if it is not just.
Many people feel "guilty" about things they shouldn't feel guilty about, in order to shut out feelings of guilt about things they should feel guilty about.
Insomnia is an all-night travel agency with posters advertising faraway places.
There's sadness to anyone that dies before their time, and specifically ones that seem to affect people in a positive way. It doesn't matter if it's Whitney Houston or a nameless, faceless person on the street. That's just as big of a tragedy for me.
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