We are not just visitors on this planet, it belongs to us just as we belong to her, its past is ours, so is its future.
Amin MaaloufRead
The identity cannot be compartmentalized; it cannot be split in halves or thirds, nor have any clearly defined set of boundaries. I do not have several identities, I only have one, made of all the elements that have shaped its unique proportions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Identity is complex and cannot be divided into parts.
Amin Maalouf's quote emphasizes the holistic nature of identity, asserting that it cannot be segmented into distinct categories but is instead a composite of various experiences and influences that uniquely shape a person. This perspective invites deeper reflection on the interconnectedness of our life experiences, cultural backgrounds, and personal histories in defining who we truly are.
Themes
IdentitySelfComplexityExperienceIndividuality
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth and self-acceptance.
More from Amin Maalouf
All quotes →What makes me myself rather than anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages, and several cultural traditions. It is precisely this that defines my identity. Would I exist more authentically if I cut off a part of myself
Amin MaaloufRead
During my youth, the idea of moving from Lebanon was unthinkable. Then I began to realise I might have to go, like my grandfather, uncles and others who left for America, Egypt, Australia, Cuba.
Amin MaaloufRead
Let your tears roll tonight, but tomorrow you will start the battle again. What defeats us, always, is just our own sorrow.
Amin MaaloufRead
A life spent writing has taught me to be wary of words. Those that seem clearest are often the most treacherous.
Amin MaaloufRead
People sometimes imagine that just because they have access to so many newspapers, radio and TV channels, they will get an infinity of different opinions. Then they discover that things are just the opposite: the power of these loudspeakers only amplifies the opinion prevalent at a certain time, to the point where it covers any other opinion.
Amin MaaloufRead
Similar quotes
The question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us.
C. S. LewisRead
Through our sunless lanes creeps Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden face follows close behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning and Shame sits with us at night.
Oscar WildeRead
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling.
Abraham LincolnRead
Perfectionism is a perpetual flight into an illusory future that cannot be attained.
Gary ZukavRead
To come to faith on the basis of experience alone is unwise, though not so foolish as to reject faith altogether because of lack of experience ... the quality of a Christian's experience depends on the quality of his faith, just as the quality of his faith depends in turn on the quality of his understanding of God's truth.
Os GuinnessRead
Self-examination - when the whole world around you is pressuring that and challenging you - is very, very hard. Looking at a whole structure - in my case, let us say of snobbery, basking in certain privileges, marks of what appear to be superiority - that's ugly to look at.
Margo JeffersonRead