Sometimes it's best to speak from ignorance: that way, you can see the wood without being distracted by the trees.
Howard JacobsonRead
If we doubt the power of literature and art to civilise, how come no one has ever been mugged by a person carrying a well-thumbed copy of 'Middlemarch' in his back pocket?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Literature and art have a civilizing influence that prevents violence and crime.
Howard Jacobson's quote highlights the transformative power of literature and art in shaping human behavior and promoting civility. By contrasting the notion of violence with the image of someone carrying a beloved book, he suggests that the presence of culture in our lives can lead to more empathetic and civilized interactions among people.
Themes
LiteratureArtCivilizationCulturePower
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about the importance of education in schools.
More from Howard Jacobson
All quotes →I think one of the main reasons I write is to do better than ranting. The ranting is the opinion, and the writing is not the opinion. I always say that people's opinions are the worst things about them. The words demand a dignity.
Howard JacobsonRead
How do you explain to somebody who doesn't understand that you don't build a library to read. A library is a resource. Something you go to, for reference, as and when. But also something you simply look at, because it gives you succour, answers to some idea of who you are or, more to the point, who you would like to be, who you will be once you own every book you need to own.
Howard JacobsonRead
It is no judgement of a thing outside yourself to say it makes you ill. The wise reader knows that every pronouncement is, to some degree, an act of self-exposure; the book you find too challenging might only show how ill-equipped you are to face its challenge.
Howard JacobsonRead
In my experience, every book you write changes the conditions in which you write the next.
Howard JacobsonRead
For a lot of readers these days, a book is something you have to agree or disagree with. But you can't agree with a novel. For my generation, it was assumed that a book is a dramatic thing, that the eye of the book is not telling you what to think.
Howard JacobsonRead
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