You can't quantify human pain the way you can measure out sugar. Death comes one individual at a time.
Yann MartelRead
We believe what we see.’...What do you do when you’re in the dark?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our perceptions shape our beliefs, especially when challenged by uncertainty.
This quote by Yann Martel reflects on the nature of belief and perception, suggesting that our understanding of reality is often based on what we can observe. When faced with uncertainty or darkness, it prompts us to question how we maintain our beliefs and navigate through the unknown, urging a deeper exploration of faith and trust beyond mere visibility.
Themes
BeliefPerceptionUncertaintyDarknessUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in discussions about faith and belief systems.
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.
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