Dreams are shores where the ocean of spirit meets the land of matter. Dreams are beaches where the yet-to-be, the once-were, the will-never-be may walk awhile with the still-are.
David MitchellRead
As long as our civilisation keeps trundling along generally forwards, then there is the possibility of a future where ethnicity is merely an interesting badge, not a uniform you can't take off.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that society can evolve to a point where ethnicity is seen as a unique trait rather than an obligatory identity.
David Mitchell's quote reflects on the potential for civilization to progress to a state where ethnicity is regarded as a mere characteristic that individuals can embrace or set aside, rather than a defining aspect of their identity. In a future where cultural differences are acknowledged and celebrated, people would no longer feel confined by their ethnic backgrounds, allowing for a broader and more inclusive understanding of identity.
Themes
CivilizationEthnicityIdentityInclusivityProgress
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about multiculturalism, one might say, 'As long as our civilization keeps trundling along generally forwards, then we have hope for a future of inclusivity.'
More from David Mitchell
All quotes →The Revelation of Sonmi 451 To be is to be perceived, and so to know thyself is only possible through the eyes of the other. The nature of our immortal lives is in the consequences of our words and deeds, that go on and are pushing themselves throughout all time. - Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.
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…and there, in the background, the sky’s sediment had sunk to a place where all the woe of the words ‘I am’ dissolved into blue peace. He said it. ‘The ocean.
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How vulgar, this hankering after immortality, how vain, how false. Composers are merely scribblers of cave paintings. One writes music because winter is eternal and because, if one didn't, the wolves and blizzards would be at one's throat all the sooner.
David MitchellRead
. . .my dreams are the single unpredictable factor in my zoned days and nights. Nobody allots them, or censors them. Dreams are all I have ever truly owned.
David MitchellRead
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
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