There is nothing that is truly free nor democratic enough. Make no mistake, the internet did not come to save the world. Jose Saramago More Quotes by Jose Saramago More Quotes From Jose Saramago I don't think it is worth explaining how a character's nose or chin looks. It is my feeling that readers will prefer to construct, little by little, their own character—the author will do well to entrust the reader with this part of the work. Jose Saramago feelings character thinking Sometimes I say that writing a novel is the same as constructing a chair: a person must be able to sit in it, to be balanced on it. If I can produce a great chair, even better. But above all I have to make sure that it has four stable feet. Jose Saramago able feet writing The wisest man I ever knew in my whole life could not read or write. Jose Saramago wisest-man writing men Ah, in every age there is always some new wonder to astound mankind until they grow accustomed to it and lose interest. Jose Saramago mankind age wonder The day before is what we bring to the day we're actually living through, life is a matter of carrying along all those days-before just as someone might carry stones, and when we can no longer cope with the load, the work is done, the last day is the only one that is not the day before another day. Jose Saramago done stones might People might ask me, What do you propose instead? I propose nothing. I am a mere novelist, I just write about the world as I see it. It is not my job to transform it. I cannot transform it all by myself, and I wouldn't even know how to. I limit myself to saying what I believe the world to be. Jose Saramago writing jobs believe I never appreciated 'positive heroes' in literature. They are almost always cliches, copies of copies, until the model is exhausted. I prefer perplexity, doubt, uncertainty, not just because it provides a more 'productive' literary raw material, but because that is the way we humans really are. Jose Saramago hero writing positive With the passage of time, as well as the social evolution and genetic exchange, we ended up putting our conscience in the color of our blood and the salt of our tears. Jose Saramago color tears blood We never consider that the things dogs know about us are things of which we have not the faintest notion. Jose Saramago notion dog knows I had no books at home. I started to frequent a public library in Lisbon. It was there, with no help except curiosity and the will to learn, that my taste for reading developed and was refined. Jose Saramago reading home book The virtue of maps, they show what can be done with limited space, they foresee that everything can happen therein. Jose Saramago maps space done Just as the habit does not make the monk, the sceptre does not make the king. Jose Saramago monk kings doe Society has to change, but the political powers we have at the moment are not enough to effect this change. The whole democratic system would have to be rethought. Jose Saramago hymns political moments Some drivers have already got out of their cars, prepared to push the stranded vehicle to a spot where it will not hold up the traffic, they beat furiously on the closed windows, the man inside turns his head in their direction, first to one side then to the other, he is clearly shouting something, to judge by the movements of his mouth he appears to be repeating some words, no one word but three, as turns out to be the case when someone finally manages to open the door, I am blind. Jose Saramago judging doors men ...the human being to lack that second skin we call egoism has not yet been born, it lasts much longer than the other one, that bleeds so readily. Jose Saramago born lasts skins We are so afraid of the idea of having to die... that we always try to find excuses for the dead, as if we were asking beforehand to be excused when it is our turn. Jose Saramago asking trying ideas You never know beforehand what people are capable of, you have to wait, give it time, it's time that rules, time is our gambling partner on the other side of the table and it holds all the cards of the deck in its hand, we have to guess the winning cards of life, our lives. Jose Saramago gambling winning hands The period that I could consider the most important in my literary work came about beginning with the Revolution, and in a certain way, developed as a consequence of the Revolution. But it was also a result of the counterrevolutionary coup of November 1975. Jose Saramago revolution important way anyone who gets up early by inclination or has been forced to rise early out of necessity finds it intolerable that others should go on sleeping soundly Jose Saramago up-early goes-on sleep Jeronimo, my grandfather, swine-herder and story-teller, feeling death about to arrive and take him, went and said goodbye to the trees in the yard, one by one, embracing them and crying because he knew he wouldn't see them again. To truly appreciate life we must remember that nothing lasts for ever and take nothing we enjoy for granted. In so doing we stay grateful and happy for all our good fortune. Jose Saramago gratitude grateful goodbye
