Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Amos Oz

Quote by Amos Oz

Work

A Tale of Love and Darkness

This work is a memoir that intertwines the author's personal story with the broader historical context of the 20th century, focusing on love, loss, and the complexities of human existence. more

Author

Amos Oz
Amos Oz

Amos Oz, born on May 4, 1939, is a renowned Israeli writer. His works are known for their profound insights into human nature and unique narrative style. He has won numerous literary awards, including the Israel Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature. more

You May Also Like

“Living as a slave to unchecked personal desire and subjugated to external circumstances is wearisome. It is a common error to devote a person’s life to earning money. While money relives us from the stress of suffering from deprivation, moneymaking will not make us happy. A person must have passion in life in order to achieve any degree of personal bliss.”

“Salma had read books where couples kissed, spoke in platitudes or come-ons; something about to happen, hinted at. Beyond that there was always only a white space on the page. A gap between paragraphs. She had thought often about what went on there. On the other side, when the letters appeared once more, couples smoke and drank tea or dressed one another or themselves. If there was a book to be written about Margot it should be blank; it would be those sex spaces between lines, sucked clean of words.”

“In many cases, we simply do not know what we want, and settle with what seems easiest or most obvious. But even when we are sure of what we want, we cannot be sure that it will be good or better for us. A young woman may dream of studying medicine at Oxford even if realizing her dream would mean getting hit by a bus in three years’ time, or never realizing her far greater potential as a novelist. We should never feel bitter when our desires are frustrated, because we can never be sure that what we wanted would have been good or best for us—and judging by the quality of our lives, we are obviously very bad at wanting.”