As long as there are living human beings, there will be language and stories. Aleksandar Hemon More Quotes by Aleksandar Hemon More Quotes From Aleksandar Hemon I don't think that everyone should have a philosophical answer to any given question. There are things that need to be done. Aleksandar Hemon philosophicalshould-havethinking Wherever there's capitalism there's this inclination toward simplicity. There's also a human need to process complicated things by turning them into something else. Aleksandar Hemon simplicitycomplicatedneeds What I don't like about America is not necessarily an American thing; it's a capitalist thing. This is the Vatican of capitalism. Aleksandar Hemon capitalistcapitalismamerica I believe people are much more complicated than they can handle. Aleksandar Hemon complicatedbelievepeople I cannot think of a country in which I would be happy with the government and dominant ideology and available propaganda. Aleksandar Hemon governmentcountrythinking My books have been published all over Europe. They read me there, and I want to read them back. I also spend a lot of time in Europe, often meeting writers, and I'm sick of apologizing for the embarrassing shortage of translations in America. Aleksandar Hemon apologizingsickbook I'm bright, but there are lots of bright writers and people everywhere. In no way, at no point do I think I'm better than them. Aleksandar Hemon peoplewaythinking The beauty of literature - also its limit - is that it is inescapably personal, even if you're writing science fiction. Aleksandar Hemon literaturewritingfiction I hate traveling and being away from my family. But I like meeting my readers, as what I write is actualized in them. Those encounters are exhilarating to me. Aleksandar Hemon encountershatewriting No reader owes me anything - I am owed nothing for my noble efforts, because my writing was always unconditional, always coming out of inner necessity. Aleksandar Hemon effortnoblewriting To me, the solidarity of readers is far more important than the solidarity of writers, particularly since readers in fact find ways to connect over a book or books, whatever they may be. Aleksandar Hemon importantmaybook Whatever solidarity I have established with other writers individually, it is usually organized around books. We connected as readers, as it were, not writers. Aleksandar Hemon solidarityreaderbook What you demand from storytelling is a moral - even political - import. I tend to shun that didactic aspect. Aleksandar Hemon demandmoralpolitical It's not that war crimes stop as soon as a novel about them is published. Literature operates slowly, it is always inching toward bliss, never quite getting there. Aleksandar Hemon never-quitliteraturewar The balls do not make a writer. Aleksandar Hemon balls I've read books in school that were written by ideological rote - they were brainwashers. Therefore, any art, any literature, that has a clearly defined political goal is repellent to me. Aleksandar Hemon bookartschool I am itching to criticize some well-regarded writers' works, but I am not doing it because I am perfectly aware that my critique could easily be reduced to envy or just plain meanness. Aleksandar Hemon meannessenvycriticize For a fight to be productive, or at least relevant, writers should fight over different demands they put upon writing (as an individual, private act) and literature (a network of relations in which we are all involved). Aleksandar Hemon differentfightingwriting Rilke said that art can come only out of inner necessity. I write because I must. Or because I cannot not write. Aleksandar Hemon saidwritingart I write and read with the assumption that literature contains knowledge of human experience that is not available otherwise. Aleksandar Hemon assumptionliteraturewriting
