Being ambivalent doesn't mean that you're a relevatist, that anything goes; it just means that you show the complexity of life. Life is always complex. Etgar Keret More Quotes by Etgar Keret More Quotes From Etgar Keret I have always thought that Heaven is a place for people who had had a good life, but that is not true. God is merciful and way too good to make it so. The Heaven is just a place for people who could not be really happy while living on Earth. I was once told that people who commit suicide are taken back on Earth to repeat life from the very beginning because if they did not like it once, it did not mean they would not like it the next time. But those who did not fit in on Earth at all, ended up here. Everyone comes to Heaven in their own way. Etgar Keret good-life taken suicide His whole body was completely still, except the wings, which were still fluttering a little, like when someone dies. That's when he finally understood that of all the things the angel had told him, nothing was true. That he wasn't even an angel, just a liar with wings. Etgar Keret angel liars wings Most of the Jewish writer friends I have are American, and I feel closer to them because they're always obsessed with one issue - identity: what does it mean to be an American Jew? Etgar Keret issues identity mean For three months, a person sits and looks at you, imagining a kiss. Etgar Keret kissing three looks I think there are some artists whose works are misanthropic. Etgar Keret misanthropic artist thinking I used to feel that if I say something's wrong, I have to say how it could be made right. But what I learned from Kurt Vonnegut was that I could write stories that say I may not have a solution, but this is wrong - that's good enough. Etgar Keret stories writing may If someone gives you a piece of advice that sounds right and feels right, use it. If someone gives you a piece of advice that sounds right and feels wrong, don’t waste so much as a single second on it. It may be fine for someone else, but not for you. Etgar Keret sound advice giving In the last war, people became vocal from the right-wing point of view: if you're liberal, then you're a traitor. Etgar Keret views wings war I write in a slangy colloquial speech that has not been common in the Israeli tradition of writing, and that is one of the things that gets lost a little in translation. Etgar Keret speech writing littles Being published in Arabic is a strong and consistent wish I have. I live in the Middle East and want to be in some sort of an unpragmatic dialogue with my neighbors. Etgar Keret strong wish want Writing a story is kind of like surfing, as opposed to the novel, where you use a GPS to get somewhere. With surfing, you kind of jump. Etgar Keret gps surfing writing For my mother, having a family was the most important thing in her life. In the Second World War, it was a challenge - surviving physically and mentally and finding somebody who you loved and who was willing to be with you. Etgar Keret challenges mother war When I started writing my stories, I thought that not only nobody outside my language, but nobody outside my neighbourhood would get them. Etgar Keret language stories writing My stories are very compact. I want them to say the most complex things in the simplest way. Etgar Keret stories want way The fact is that everything I have in my pockets is carefully chosen so I’ll always be prepared. Everything is there so I can be at an advantage at the moment of truth. Actually, that’s not accurate. Everything’s there so I won’t be at a disadvantage at the moment of truth. Etgar Keret pockets moments facts I was born at six months, and I weighed 900 grams [less than two pounds]. I have a very heroic birth story. Etgar Keret six-months stories two There are two kinds of people, those who like to sleep next to the wall, and those who like to sleep next to the people who push them off the bed. Etgar Keret wall sleep two In Israel, there is this reduction of the political discourse to something that is very limited. It's as if you have that pitch that only dogs can hear. Sometimes I feel I speak at such a pitch that very few people around me communicate with what I'm saying. Etgar Keret israel dog people It took a lot to understand that the interest in both writing a story and reading it is not in the objective dangers someone takes. You don't have to fight snakes or wake up in a strange apartment to have a story; it's about what goes on inside your mind and soul. Etgar Keret fighting reading writing Collaborating with your wife is amazing because you are doing something together with a person you truly love and know and discover things about her in that process which you have never had discovered on other circumstances. Etgar Keret wife process together
