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Quote by Daniel Pennac

“Insegnare è proprio questo: ricominciare fino a scomparire come professori. Se non riusciamo a collocare i nostri studenti nell’indicativo presente della nostra lezione, se il nostro sapere e il piacere di servirsene non attecchiscono su quei ragazzini e quelle ragazzine, nel senso botanico del termine, la loro esistenza vacillerà sopra vuoti infiniti.”

Quote by Daniel Pennac

Author

Daniel Pennac
Daniel Pennac

Daniel Pennac, born on December 1, 1944, is a renowned French writer known for his humorous, satirical, and insightful works. His writing has won him numerous literary awards in France and has been translated into multiple languages, gaining international acclaim. more

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“Per mia fortuna, era stata appena creata la piccola Scuola Agraria di Ben Cat. Situata ai margini della foresta, a cinquanta chilometri da Saigon e a pochi minuti da una Casa di Rieducazione, la mia nuova scuola sembrava un paradiso. Lì, niente bei voti per i bravi, né brutti voti per i lazzaroni. Non davano affatto voti, niente di più semplice. Allora siamo diventati tutti bravi, perché in noi non c’era più né paura né ribellione.”

“Ma quando ero lontano dall'influenza moderatrice della scuola, mi riprendeva il desiderio di selvagge sensazioni ed evasione che solo quelle cronache di disordine sembravano offrirmi. A lungo andare il finto combattimento serale divenne noioso come la routine mattutina a scuola, perché desideravo che mi accadessero vere avventure. Ma le vere avventure, riflettei, non capitano a chi rimane a casa: bisognava andarle a cercare fuori.”

“Every time I yelled my orders through the resurrected wind that howled in the rigging, the Kanaks replied with the only words I ever heard them say in English - "Aye, aye, sir!" - like a chorus responding to a solo. It might sound strange - even reckless - to say that we sailed into the storm with exhilaration, but there's no other word to describe our mood as, utterly drenched, we watched the waves toss around us, sending up huge sheets of flying foam that merged sea and sky. We'd double-robed the flying jib, but soon we had to drop all but the foresail to prevent the mast and rigging from going overboard. I lashed myself to the wheel as the vast waves thundered over us, clearing the deck, from bow to stern, of anything that wasn't strapped down. I stayed there for two days. I could have ordered one of the Kanaks to relieve me every four hours, but I didn't. Not because I didn't trust them, but because I had something to prove to myself. I think they understood that.”

“I realized that I'd never thought passed the moment when I stood face to face with him again. I was a skilled sailor. I'd crossed the great oceans, but when it came to this, I felt like a newcomer to the world - not because I didn't know its busy, overcrowded ports, its palm-fringed coasts and wind-lashed rocks, but because I understood so little of my own soul. I could navigate from a chart; I could determine my position using a sextant. I was in an unknown place in the Pacific on a ship with no captain and I could still find my way. But I had no way of mapping my own mind or the course of my life.”