In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
Nothing, not even human life, is more precious to us than our myths about ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our self-perception and personal myths are deeply valuable, often surpassing even the value of life itself.
Svetlana Alexievich's quote emphasizes the importance of the narratives we create about ourselves and our identities. These myths shape our understanding of who we are and influence our decisions and behaviors, highlighting that the stories we believe can be more essential than the physical realities of existence, including life itself.
Themes
MythsIdentitySelf-PerceptionValueExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-identity and personal growth.
More from Svetlana Alexievich
All quotes βThe subjects I wanted to write about - the mystery of the human soul, evil - didn't interest newspapers, and news reporting bored me.
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'Women's' war has its own colors, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. There are no heroes and incredible feats; there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.
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There is no need to give in to the compromise that totalitarian regimes always count on.
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I've been searching for a genre that would be most adequate to my vision of the world to convey how my ear hears and my eyes see life. I tried this and that, and finally, I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves. But I don't just record a dry history of events and facts; I'm writing a history of human feelings.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.
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