You can't quantify human pain the way you can measure out sugar. Death comes one individual at a time.
Yann MartelRead
As for hearing, the sloth is not so much deaf as uninterested in sound.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The sloth's lack of interest in sound reflects a broader commentary on selective engagement with the world around us.
In this quote, Yann Martel illustrates that the sloth's apparent deafness is not a result of an inability to hear but rather a choice to disregard what does not interest it. This idea invites readers to reflect on how personal motivation and interest shape our perception of the world and the stimuli we choose to engage with. It touches on the theme of conscious attention and the ways in which we filter experiences based on relevance to our lives.
Themes
SlothHearingInterestEngagementPerception
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mindfulness and engagement with the world, this quote can illustrate the importance of choosing what we focus on.
More from Yann Martel
All quotes →Come aboard if your destination is oblivion- it should be our next stop. We can sit together. You can have the window seat if you want. But it's a sad view.
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Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be real, but it's true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to get to emotional and psychological truths.
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The moon was a sharply defined crescent and the sky was perfectly clear. The stars shone with such fierce, contained brilliance that it seemed absurd to call the night dark.
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I thought they were helping me. I was so full of trust in them that I felt grateful as they carried me in the air. Only when they threw me overboard did I begin to have doubts.
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Art is a gift: you create and then you give away. How readers receive that gift is their business. If they hate it, that’s their response to it. Others respond by liking it. Either way, that is their interaction with the book, which is no longer mine.
Yann MartelRead
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