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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns against the danger of being perpetually busy, suggesting that a society focused solely on activity risks losing awareness and depth.
Gunter Grass highlights the potential consequences of a society that prioritizes constant busyness over meaningful engagement with life. He suggests that if people become consumed by the idea of absolute busyness, they may sacrifice their consciousness and emotional depth, leading to a future where superficial harmony replaces genuine conflict and awareness. This critique serves as a reminder to find balance between work and leisure, ensuring that true fulfillment is not lost in the relentless pursuit of activity.
Themes
BusynessConsciousnessMelancholyUtopiaConflict
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion on work-life balance during a corporate training session.
More from Gunter Grass
All quotes →I 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.
Gunter GrassRead
Today I know that all things are watching, that nothing goes unseen, that even wallpaper has a better memory than human beings.
Gunter GrassRead
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.
Gunter GrassRead
Art is uncompromising, and life is full of compromises.
Gunter GrassRead
I belonged to the generation that grew up under National Socialism, and was blinded and led astray - and allowed itself to be led astray.
Gunter GrassRead
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