What makes books - and with them writers - so dangerous that church and state, politburos and the mass media feel the need to oppose them? Gunter Grass More Quotes by Gunter Grass More Quotes From Gunter Grass The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open. Gunter Grass democracies-have freedom jobs It makes me realise that the fantasy of nature is much larger than my own fantasy. I still have things to learn. Gunter Grass realising fantasy stills Art is accusation, expression, passion. Art is black charcoal crushing white paper. Gunter Grass crush passion art People have always told tales. Long before humanity learned to write and gradually became literate, everybody told tales to everybody else and everybody listened to everybody else's tales. Before long it became clear that some of the still illiterate storytellers told more and better tales than others, that is, they could make more people believe their lies. Gunter Grass writing believe lying Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes. Gunter Grass translations translators things-change And when the sun goes down and the mood comes upon me, I'll watch the play of the colors on the water, yield to the fleetly dissolving images, and turn into pure feeling, all soft and nice. Gunter Grass yield nice color On sorrow floats laughter. Gunter Grass floats laughter sorrow Even bad books are books and therefore sacred. Gunter Grass sacred book We already have the statistics for the future: the growth percentages of pollution, overpopulation, desertification. The future is already in place. Gunter Grass environmental-pollution future growth After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power. The belief is now that everything - and everyone - is fair game. Gunter Grass rivals suicidal games Love That’s it: The cashless commerce. The blanket always too short. The loose connexion. To search behind the horizon. To brush fallen leaves with four shoes and in one’s mind to rub bare feet. To let and rent hearts; or in a room with shower and mirror, in a hired car, bonnet facing the moon, wherever innocence stops and burns its programme, the word in falsetto sounds different and new each time. Today, in front of a box office not yet open, hand in hand crackled the hangdog old man and the dainty old woman. The film promised love. Gunter Grass moon heart men An empty bus hurtles through the starry night Perhaps the driver is singing and happy because he sings. Gunter Grass empty singing night How easily the routine of sin establishes itself. Gunter Grass routine sin Who can deny that the environment has been destroyed? Gunter Grass deny has-beens environment It's dangerous to watch staggering butterflies. They have a plan but it has no meaning. Gunter Grass dangerous butterfly watches I expected more from literature than from real, naked life. Gunter Grass naked real literature Where man had been, in every place he left, garbage remained. Even in his pursuit of the ultimate truth and quest for his God, he produced garbage. By his garbage, which lay stratum upon stratum, he could always - one had only to dig - be known. For more long-lived than man is his refuse. Garbage alone lives after him. Gunter Grass quests men long Granted: I AM an inmate of a mental hospital; my keeper is watching me, he never lets me out of his sight; there's a peep-hole in the door, and my keeper's eye is the shade of brown that can never see through a blue-eyed type like me. Gunter Grass eye sight blue I have often supported Israel, I have often visited the country and want the country to exist and at last find peace with its neighbours. Gunter Grass israel want country What I do is sometimes - at least in Germany - met with wounding campaigns. I always face the question: should I grow myself a thick skin and ignore it, or should I let myself be wounded? I've decided to be wounded, since, if I grew a thick skin, there are other things I wouldn't feel any more. Gunter Grass germany campaigns skins
