I really believe hatred is not a primal emotion, in that you can't find it in nature. It's basically some kind of distortion of fear. Etgar Keret More Quotes by Etgar Keret More Quotes From Etgar Keret In my stories I can kiss the girls I want to kiss and punch the girls I want to punch. Nobody pays a price for it. Etgar Keret kissing girl stories Etgar means "challenge." And my family name is Keret, which means "urban." So my name is "urban challenge." My joke is, it's a good description of a birth but a strange name for a human being. Etgar Keret challenges names mean If we're a family and your brother wishes you death, it's not a very happy family. Etgar Keret happy-family brother wish What connects me so strongly to Israel is the fact that I'm second generation. Etgar Keret generations israel facts If you scare somebody enough, they stop being rational. Etgar Keret rational scare enough I think that, in Israel, the greatest fear that people have, and I have it, too, is fear of genocide. Etgar Keret greatest-fear israel thinking It's funny, but I think my stories - the good ones - they're much smarter than I am. Etgar Keret smarter stories thinking I don't like the expression "writer's block" because I think it presupposes that you have a problem with your plumbing. I really think it's the other way around. Etgar Keret block expression thinking You take a book, and what can you do with a book? Can you cook an egg on a book? No. Can you dig a hole? No. Is it a good weapon? No. The fact that it's good for nothing kind of makes it almost all-important. Etgar Keret eggs important book I never know the endings when I write. It's a turnoff when you know the ending. You lose much of your incentive to write when you already know. It's like seeing a movie a second time. Etgar Keret incentives knows writing I think living in Israel and wanting to change reality is the best prescription for never-ending writer's block. Etgar Keret block reality thinking I like smoking pot, but I'm not the kind of guy who smokes every day. Etgar Keret guy kind smoking This idea where, in this safe haven for Jews, Jews will threaten to kill other Jews, it wasn't in the brochure. Etgar Keret brochures safe-haven ideas I think that any authentic feeling one has of life should be a feeling of defeat. It's a losing game. You're going to die. Civilization is going to end. Our society is in decline, and we should feel OK about it because Roman society was in decline and before it the Assyrian one was, and they disappeared off this earth and we will disappear too. Etgar Keret games civilization thinking I've always had a very developed superego. I also had a very powerful id, but there was no ego in the middle. So writing was always like letters sent from the id to the superego, saying, "What's going on here?" What I loved about writing was that I was totally weightless. I was amazed at the fact that I could be myself without being afraid that anyone would get hurt. Etgar Keret powerful hurt writing When I write a story, I have no idea what I'm doing. All I know is that I want to share something with my readers. The whole idea of writing is this place where you lose control, where you're irresponsible - it's a very liberating place. Etgar Keret lose control place you