What makes me myself rather than anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages, and several cultural traditions. It is precisely this that defines my identity. Would I exist more authentically if I cut off a part of myself
Interpretation
Identity is shaped by the diverse cultural and linguistic influences in our lives.
Amin Maalouf expresses how his identity is profoundly influenced by the rich tapestry of experiences he gains from living between different countries, languages, and cultures. He suggests that rather than diluting his identity, these various aspects enhance his sense of self, challenging the notion that a singular cultural affiliation is necessary for authenticity.
In practice
During a cultural exchange program, to highlight the importance of diverse backgrounds in shaping identity.
The identity cannot be compartmentalized; it cannot be split in halves or thirds, nor have any clearly defined set of boundaries. I do not have several identities, I only have one, made of all the elements that have shaped its unique proportions.
We are not just visitors on this planet, it belongs to us just as we belong to her, its past is ours, so is its future.
During my youth, the idea of moving from Lebanon was unthinkable. Then I began to realise I might have to go, like my grandfather, uncles and others who left for America, Egypt, Australia, Cuba.
Let your tears roll tonight, but tomorrow you will start the battle again. What defeats us, always, is just our own sorrow.
A life spent writing has taught me to be wary of words. Those that seem clearest are often the most treacherous.
People sometimes imagine that just because they have access to so many newspapers, radio and TV channels, they will get an infinity of different opinions. Then they discover that things are just the opposite: the power of these loudspeakers only amplifies the opinion prevalent at a certain time, to the point where it covers any other opinion.
Vanity is so frequently the apparent motive of advice that we, for the most part, summon our powers to oppose it without very accurate inquiry whether it is right. It is sufficient that another is growing great in his own eyes at our expense, and assumes authority over us without our permission; for many would contentedly suffer the consequences of their own mistakes, rather than the insolence of him who triumphs as their deliverer.
Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time in you?
The business of the law is to make sense of the confusion of what we call human life - to reduce it to order but at the same time to give it possibility, scope, even dignity.
Boredom is always counter-revolutionary. Always.
The star of revolution will rise high above the streets of Moscow, from a sea of blood and fire, and turn into a lodestar to lead a liberated humanity
their powerlessness, innocence, and imagination fused to enable them to turn time inside out, travel on the wind, and enter the souls of animals.
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