The trouble with righting some wrongs is that it makes the remaining ones seem even more unbearable.
A. A. GillRead
Other people's traditions look charming and decorative and exotic. They're nice places to visit on holiday, but you wouldn't want to live with one.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Appreciating other cultures is different from adopting them as your own.
A. A. Gill's quote emphasizes the idea that while other cultures and traditions may appear interesting and beautiful, they can also be complex and challenging to live with on a daily basis. Visiting and enjoying these traditions in a superficial way is one thing, but fully embracing them often involves deeper commitments and sacrifices, which may not be suitable for everyone.
Themes
CultureTraditionAppreciationUnderstandingIdentity
In practice
Example use cases
During a cultural festival, one might reflect on this quote when discussing the beauty of various traditions.
More from A. A. Gill
All quotes βIf the world were to end tomorrow and we could choose to save only one thing as the explanation and memorial to who we were, then we couldn't do better than the Natural History Museum, although it wouldn't contain a single human. The systematic Linnean order, the vast inquisitiveness and range of collated knowledge and beauty would tell all that is the best of us.
A. A. GillRead
Sport is how poor kids from poor countries pass through the eye of the needle to riches and recognition.
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Being able to afford everything you desire is not, by any means, the worst thing that can happen to you. But, depressingly, and more profoundly, neither is it the best.
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America didnβt bypass or escape civilization. It did something far more profound, far cleverer: it simply changed what civilization could be.
A. A. GillRead
Celebrity is a national drama whose characters' parts and plots are written by the tabloids, gossip columnists, websites and interactive buttons. The famous don't actually have to turn up to their own lives at all.
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