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.
Gunter GrassRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the powerful and often painful inspiration that artists experience, likening it to a kiss from a muse.
In this quote, Gunter Grass conveys the profound impact that inspiration, represented as a kiss from the Muse Ulla, has on an artist. The imagery of weeping and being blinded by tears signifies the emotional intensity that accompanies the creative process. The mention of the drum symbolizes a calling back to one's artistic roots and the inevitable return to the passion that once was abandoned. It suggests that true artistry is not just a choice but a compulsion, driven by a powerful force that one cannot resist or escape.
Themes
InspirationArtCreativityMuseEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the struggles and passions of creativity during an arts festival.
More from Gunter Grass
All quotes →Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
Gunter GrassRead
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.
Gunter GrassRead
Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
Gunter GrassRead
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.
Gunter GrassRead
I belonged to the generation that grew up under National Socialism, and was blinded and led astray - and allowed itself to be led astray.
Gunter GrassRead
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It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.
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