Quotes from Red Sorghum

“Finally, she mused that human existence is as brief as the life of autumn grass, so what was there to fear from taking chances with your life?”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“I sometimes think that there is a link between the decline in humanity and the increase in prosperity and comfort. Property and comfort are what people seek, but the costs to character are often terrifying.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Cos'è l'amore? Ognuno ha una risposta diversa a questa domanda. Questo demone ha tormentato un numero infinito di uomini valorosi e di donne virtuose e capaci.
Basandomi sulle storie d'amore del nonno, sugli amori tempestosi di mio padre e sul pallido deserto delle mie esperienze, ho desunto alcune costanti valide per le tre generazioni della mia famiglia. La prima fase, quella dell'amore ardente, è fatta di dolore lacerante, dal cuore trafitto gocciola un liquido simile alla resina di pino; il sangue versato per le pene d'amore sgorga dallo stomaco, attraversa gli intestini e viene espulso dal corpo sotto forma di feci nere come la pece. La seconda fase, quella dell'amore crudele, è la fase della critica impietosa; gli innamorati adorano scorticarsi vivi sul piano fisico, psicologico, spirituale e materiale; adorano strapparsi a vicenda le vene, i muscoli, gli organi e infine il cuore nero o rosso, e gettarlo in faccia all'altro, facendo sì che i due cuori si scontrino e vadano in pezzi. La terza fase, o dell'amore di ghiaccio, è caratterizzata da lunghi silenzi. La freddezza trasforma gli amanti in ghiaccioli. E' per questo che quelli che amano veramente hanno il viso bianco come brina e una temperatura corporea di venticinque gradi. Battono i denti senza riuscire a parlare, non perché non lo vogliano ma perché hanno disimparato, e agli altri danno l'impressione di esser muti.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Strong winds eventually cease, unhappy families return to peace”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“a bright sun darkens, a full moon wanes, a full cup overflows, and decay follows prosperity”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“angst is het enige dat tussen de mens en de vrijheid staat”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“The young must not scoff at the old, for flowers don’t bloom forever”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Over decades that seem but a moment in time, lines of scarlet figures shuttled among the sorghum stalks to weave a vast human tapestry. They killed, they looted, and they defended their country in a valiant, stirring ballet that makes us unfilial descendants who now occupy the land pale by comparison.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Don’t swallow a scythe if your stomach isn’t curved”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Prosperity and comfort are what people seek, but the costs to character are often terrifying”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“run, run, you can’t get away, the monk can run but the temple will never get away!”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“I portatori bravi tenevano le mani sui fianchi e si muovevano insieme, facendo oscillare la portantina al ritmo della bella e triste melodia suonata dai musici, per far capire che dietro ogni felicità si cela sempre una sofferenza.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“WITH THIS BOOK I respectfully invoke the heroic, aggrieved souls wandering in the boundless bright-red sorghum fields of my hometown. As your unfilial son, I am prepared to carve out my heart, marinate it in soy sauce, have it minced and placed in three bowls, and lay it out as an offering in a field of sorghum. Partake of it in good health!”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Oh, cielo! Cielo... mi hai donato un amante, un figlio, la ricchezza e questi trenta anni di vita densa come il sorgo rosso. Cielo, me le hai donate queste cose, non puoi riprendertele, perdonami, ma lasciami andare! Cielo, pensi che io sia in colpa? Credi che se avessi diviso il cuscino con un lebbroso, e generato un mostro rognoso e purulento insozzando questo bel mondo sarei stata nel giusto? Cielo, cos'è la castità? Cos'è la giusta via? Cos'è la bontà? Cos'è il male? Non me l'hai mai detto, ho dovuto sempre sbrigarmela da sola. Amo la felicità, amo la forza, amo la bellezza, il mio corpo mi appartiene, sono padrona di me stessa, non ho paura di sbagliare, non ho paura della punizione, non ho paura di entrare nei diciotto gironi del tuo inferno. Ho fatto tutto ciò che dovevo fare e ciò che andava fatto, e non temo nulla. Ma non voglio morire, voglio vivere, voglio vedere ancora un po' di mondo.
Cielo...”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Il nonno dimenticò che il sole, dopo aver brillato, si oscura, che la luna divenuta piena comincia a declinare, che un recipiente pieno si capovolge e che alla prosperità segue la decadenza; e commise un grave errore nel voler organizzare un grande funerale per la nonna.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“A volte penso che ci sia un rapporto tra il decadimento dell'umanità e la prosperità e il benessere in cui viviamo. La prosperità e il benessere sono obiettivi anche necessari che il genere umano persegue nella sua lotta per il progresso, ma generano profonde e temibili contraddizioni. Il genere umano sta infatti distruggendo con le proprie mani alcune delle qualità che possiede.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“La nonna gli diede uno strattone e gli fece segno di inginocchiarsi. Obbedì, ma nel toccare l'erba che cresceva rigogliosa nella fossa sentì che i fili appuntiti gli pungevano il mento, turbando la serenità del suo animo. Provò freddo alle spalle, come se innumerevoli occhi di bambini morti gli stessero fissando la schiena. Udì innumerevoli bambini correre, scalciare e ridere.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Surrounded by progress, I feel a nagging sense of our species’ regression.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“A stable, peaceful society is the training ground for humanity, just as caged animals, removed from the violent unpredictability of the wild, are influenced by the behaviour of their captors in time.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“In some significant aspects, heroes are born, not made. Heroic qualities flow through a person's veins like an undercurrent, ready to be translated into action.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Il fitto e alto sorgo risplendeva, freddo e gentile seduceva gli uomini, appassionato e tumultuoso. I venti autunnali erano freddi, forti i raggi del sole, gruppi di nuvole bianche e dense vagavano nel cielo azzurro, facendo scivolare sul sorgo le loro ombre color porpora. Per decine di anni che sembrano un giorno, file e file di persone dalla pelle rossoscura hanno fatto la spola tra i fusti del sorgo come disegnando una rete. Essi hanno ucciso, saccheggiato e difeso lealmente il Paese, muovendosi in una danza eroica e tragica che fa impallidire al confronto noi indegni discendenti e mi fa percepire chiaramente la regressione della specie che accompagna il progresso.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

“Nell'ottavo mese lunare, in autunno avanzato, distese sconfinate di sorgo scintillavano come un mare di sangue.”
― Mo Yan, quote from Red Sorghum

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Popular quotes

“Because you have seen something doesn't mean you can explain it. Differing interpretations will always abound, even when good minds come to bear. The kernel of indisputable information is a dot in space; interpretations grow out of the desire to make this point a line, to give it direction. The directions in which it can be sent, the uses to which it can be put by a culturally, professionally, and geographically diverse society are almost without limit. The possibilities make good scientists chary.”
― Barry López, quote from Arctic Dreams

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(It’s much less satisfying arguing with Mike than with Vera or Pappa. He’s always so irritatingly reasonable.)
“Are you sure you’re not just being a bit puritanical?”
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That night Mike and I sleep in separate beds.”
― Marina Lewycka, quote from A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

“Listen. The trees in this story are stirring, trembling, readjusting themselves. A breeze is coming in gusts off the sea, and it is almost as if the trees know, in their restlessness, in their head-tossing impatience, that something is about to happen.”
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“An intelligent enemy,' he would say, stroking his beard as if it were a bristly pet, 'rather than a foolish friend.' Or, 'He learnt the language of pigeons, and forgot his own.' Or, the favourite of Jan Fishan Khan: 'Nothing is what it seems.”
― Tahir Shah, quote from Sorcerer's Apprentice

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