Everyone is born into a certain era. I wouldn't want to see anyone faced with the circumstances that prevailed at the time, when there were few or no alternatives.
Gunter GrassRead
I have found that words that are loaded with pathos and create a seductive euphoria are apt to promote nonsense.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Emotional language can lead to irrational thinking and misunderstandings.
Gunter Grass emphasizes the power of emotionally charged language in shaping our thoughts and beliefs. He warns that words filled with strong emotions can seduce us into accepting illogical ideas or nonsense, highlighting the importance of critical thinking and discernment in communication.
Themes
WordsEmotionNonsenseCritical ThinkingLanguage
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate about current events, one could use this quote to caution against emotionally charged rhetoric.
More from Gunter Grass
All quotes βI wept when the muse Ulla bent over me. Blinded by tears I could not prevent her from kissing me, I could not prevent the Muse from giving me that terrible kiss. All of you who have ever been kissed by the Muse will surely understand that Oskar, once branded by that kiss, was condemned to take back the drum he had rejected years before, the drum he had buried in the sand of Sapse Cemetery.
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Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
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I did not volunteer for the Waffen SS, but was, as were thousands of my year group, conscripted. I did not then know as a 17-year-old that it was a criminal unit. I thought it was an elite unit.
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Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
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If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come to coincide: an age without conflict will dawn, perpetually busy - and without consciousness.
Gunter GrassRead
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