"In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?"

History, Literature, Self, Writing

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"In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?"

Exlpore more History quotes

"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."

Arthur C. Clarke, English Writer

History, Religion, Morality, Mankind

"They were obviously headstones of graves, though the graves themselves no longer existed as either mounds or depressions; the years had leveled all. Scattered here and there, more massive blocks showed where some pompous or ambitious monument had once flung its feeble defiance at oblivion."

Ambrose Bierce, American Journalist

History, Death, Decay, Memory

"There was something melancholic about that symbol of their nation's promise of freedom, a bell with a chipped mouth and cleft body."

E.A. Bucchianeri, American Author

History, Symbolism, Patriotism, Emotion

"The double-crossed, might-have-been history of my country is not the study of what actually took place here: it's the study of historians' studies. . . .Memories are their own descendants masquerading as the ancestors of the present."

David Mitchell, British Novelist

History, Memory, Study, Truth

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."

Aldous Huxley, English Novelist

History, Men

"Those who stand for different causes during different generations often experience the same oppositions and the same difficulties as those of the previous and the next generations. That is the basis of history repeating itself."

Criss Jami, American Philosopher

History, Truth, Opposition, Change

"Super-eruption of mount Toba, 76,000 years ago had wiped out a previous great civilization on earth."

Toba Beta, Indonesian Author

History, Truth, Future, Wisdom

"Adolf Hitler! Ken, it makes me furious. Forty million people die to defeat that megalomaniac, and he's the star of the first broadcast to another civilization? He's representing us. And them. It's that madman's dream come true."

Carl Sagan, American Scientist

History, War, Hatred, Madness

"We're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive. It's pretty dense kids who haven't figured that out by the time they're ten.... Most kids can't afford to go to Harvard and be misinformed."

Kurt Vonnegut, American Author

History, Past, Life, Repetition

"How nice -- to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive."

Kurt Vonnegut, American Author

History, War, Art, Protest, Power

Explore more quotes by Gao Xingjian

"As a male writer, women are always what men pursue, and their world is always a mystery. So I always tried to present as many views as possible on women's worlds."

Man

"Observing humans and observing oneself yields a clear-minded starting point for literature."

Literature

"When you use words, you're able to keep your mind alive. Writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence."

Existence

"Love is so holy, so confusing. It makes a man anxious, tormented. Love, how can I define it?"

Love

"In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?"

History