There are certain concepts, which exist in english, and are unthinkable, untranslatable into Hebrew and vice versa.

Amos Oz

Categorized in : Vices Hebrew Vice Versa

The whole Zionist project was based on a whole spectrum of different and even conflicting dreams and visions.

vision different dream

"The State of the Jews" was not a title of a country. It was a ti... by Amos Oz

"The State of the Jews" was not a title of a country. It was a title of a futuristic novel.

titles states country

Israel is a fulfilled dream. Nothing that exists here existed her... by Amos Oz

Israel is a fulfilled dream. Nothing that exists here existed here a hundred years ago.

israel dream years

The moment you carry out any of your dreams or your fantasies - travel around the world, climbing a high mountain, buying a new house, writing a novel, carrying out a sexual fantasy, traveling to an unknown country - the moment you carry out your dreams, it's always, by definition less perfect and rosy than it had been as a dream. This is the nature of dreams.

dream writing country

I want Israel to live in peace with its neighbors and in peace wi... by Amos Oz

I want Israel to live in peace with its neighbors and in peace with itself.

neighbor israel want

I don't believe in binational states. There are wonderful examples of this, prosperous multinational states: Switzerland, Switzerland and Switzerland. Everywhere else - be it Cyprus, Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union, it ended in a terrible bloodbath.

yugoslavia switzerland believe

We lived through a relatively golden age between the end of World... by Amos Oz

We lived through a relatively golden age between the end of World War II and Sept. 11, 2001.

age war world

A little more than a hundred years ago, "Tel Aviv" was not a city. It was a title of a novel written by an author. The "Return to Zion" was a name of another novel. There was a bookshelf. There was no country. There was no state. There was no nation. There was no physical Jewish reality in this country.

cities country reality

All you can see, if you look through the window - everything you see is a fulfillment of dreams, different dreams.

different dream looks

Hebrew is deeply inspired by other languages. by Amos Oz

Hebrew is deeply inspired by other languages.

hebrew inspired language

And in this respect, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a tragedy, a clash between one very powerful, very convincing, very painful claim over this land and another no less powerful, no less convincing claim.

conflict respect powerful painful

But The Same Sea is set precisely in this Israel, which never makes it to the news headlines anywhere. It is a novel about everyday people far removed from fundamentalism, fanaticism nationalism, or militancy of any sort.

never news sea people

The idea that all Israelis are villains is a childish idea. Israel is the most deeply divided, argumentative society. You'll never find two Israelis that agree with one another - it's hard to find even one who agrees with himself or herself.

childish never you society

I think loathing begets fanaticism, and in the end, loathing bege... by Amos Oz

I think loathing begets fanaticism, and in the end, loathing begets hatred and violence.

end think violence hatred

Very often, fanaticism begins at home. It begins inside the family. It begins with the urge to change our kin, to change our beloved ones for their own good because we think we know better than them what is good and what is bad for them, what is right and what is wrong in their thinking.

good family change home

I've been called a traitor a few times in my life by some of my c... by Amos Oz

I've been called a traitor a few times in my life by some of my countrymen.

my-life some traitor life

Throughout my childhood, a heavy cloud of pain and disappointment and insecurity hovered over my home, my little street, my neighborhood, Jewish Jerusalem, Jewish Israel.

childhood pain disappointment home

I have mixed feelings about Jerusalem. It is fascinating, it is beautiful, it is tragic, and it is extremely attractive to all kinds of fanatics or redeemers, world reformers, self-appointed prophets or messiahs. I find this fascinating, but I don't think I would like to live in the middle of this. I need my distance.

live think beautiful world

Nobody ever predicted, a week before President Sadat came to Jerusalem in 1977, that his arrival would be the beginning of a peace process that would end up in an - unhappy - Israeli-Egyptian peace. We have seen peace with Egypt. We have seen peace with Jordan. We have seen the handshake between Rabin and Arafat - things are possible.

nobody beginning unhappy peace

I love Israel, but I don't like it very much. by Amos Oz

I love Israel, but I don't like it very much.

very like israel love