In apartments and cottages, on the street and in the train... I listen... More and more, I turn into one large ear, always turning to another person.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
Why do I write? I have been called a writer of catastrophes, but that isn't true. I am always looking for words of love. Hate will not save us. Only love.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of writing lies in the exploration and expression of love, rather than despair or hatred.
In this quote, Svetlana Alexievich emphasizes the transformative power of love in writing and life. While she has been labeled a writer of catastrophes, she clarifies that her true intent is to seek and convey messages of love, suggesting that love is a fundamental solution to the challenges we face, and that negativity and hate will not lead to salvation or resolution.
Themes
LoveWritingNegativitySalvationCatastrophes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on the importance of literature, one might refer to this quote to highlight the role of love in human expression.
More from Svetlana Alexievich
All quotes →The subjects I wanted to write about - the mystery of the human soul, evil - didn't interest newspapers, and news reporting bored me.
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'Women's' war has its own colors, its own smells, its own lighting, and its own range of feelings. There are no heroes and incredible feats; there are simply people who are busy doing inhumanly human things.
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There is no need to give in to the compromise that totalitarian regimes always count on.
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I've been searching for a genre that would be most adequate to my vision of the world to convey how my ear hears and my eyes see life. I tried this and that, and finally, I chose a genre where human voices speak for themselves. But I don't just record a dry history of events and facts; I'm writing a history of human feelings.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
From the point of view of art, the butcher and the victim are equal as people. You need to see the people.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
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I was so sentimental about you I'd break any one's heart for you. My, I was a damned fool. I broke my own heart, too. It's broken and gone. Everything I believe in and everything I cared about I left for you because you were so wonderful and you loved me so much that love was all that mattered. Love was the greatest thing, wasn't it?
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One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washèd it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
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