It's a privilege to serve the poor, to be servants of noble Africans, but I better belong in the rehearsal room or in the studio with my band. That's where I want to be and I still wake up in the morning with melodies in my head.
BonoRead
I accept the Old Testament as more of an action movie: blood, car chases, evacuations, a lot of special effects, seas dividing, mass murder, adultery. The children of God are running amok, wayward. Maybe that's why they're so relatable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Bono presents the Old Testament as a dramatic and chaotic narrative that reflects human behavior and struggles.
In this quote, Bono likens the Old Testament to an action movie filled with intense and chaotic scenarios, emphasizing that its narratives are over-the-top yet fundamentally relatable. By highlighting the tumultuous events and the flawed nature of its characters, he suggests that these stories resonate with our own experiences of chaos and moral ambiguity, making them both engaging and recognizable.
Themes
Old TestamentAction MovieChaosHuman BehaviorRelatability
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about the relevance of religious texts in modern life, this quote could be used to illustrate the relatable nature of ancient stories.
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All quotes →Perspective is the cure for depression.
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At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action.
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It's much easier to be successful than it is to be relevant. The tricks won't keep you relevant. Tricks might keep you popular for a while, but in all honesty, I don't know how U2 will stay relevant. I know we've got a future. I know we can fill stadiums. And yet with every record, I think, 'Is this it? Are we still relevant?'
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God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
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Hanging out with politicians and corporations is very unhip work. But I think that the U2 audience have turned out to be incredibly subtle in their understanding.
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