Liao Yiwu quotes
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“Two years ago I was on the train from Berlin to Frankfurt when I heard that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to my close friend, the writer Liu Xiaobo, who is imprisoned in China. To me it was confirmation that universal values and a moral code do exist, and that the point of the Nobel Prize is to encourage writers to stand up for this moral code. Last Thursday I was once again on the train from Berlin to Frankfurt when I heard that the Nobel Prize for Literature had gone to Mo Yan. He is a state poet. I am utterly bewildered. Do these universal values not exist after all?”
-- Liao Yiwu -
“To me the truth comes first and then the literature. We in China are dealing with a dictatorial system and we writers have to take a stance on it.”
-- Liao Yiwu -
“If you are going to stick to the truth then you need to keep your distance from the Chinese government and indeed to any form of politics, including the politics of democratic countries.”
-- Liao Yiwu -
“I have been living in Germany for one year and my impression is that people here are on a quest for the truth, they have come to terms with the injustices of the past, there are memorial centers and remembrance projects. Germany is my spiritual home.”
-- Liao Yiwu -
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“It is something wonderful when one can love another author. That happens so rarely, without any kind of misgivings that authors often have between each other. It is a good fortune, when you can adore, when you can love, when you can find something so magnificent.”
-- Liao Yiwu -
“A good novelist loves all of his characters, he lives in them, even in those who commit or must commit terrible acts.”
-- Liao Yiwu
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“Intimate relationships are a gold mine for literature to explore, to understand, to describe.”
Source : "Boundaries and Crossing". Interview with Vered Shemtov, shma.com. March 4, 2004.
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“I like my coffee with cream and my literature with optimism.”
Source : Abigail Reynolds (2010). “Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice: A modern love story with a Jane Austen twist”, p.27, Sourcebooks, Inc.
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“No moral system can rest solely on authority.”
Source : Humanist Outlook (1968) introduction
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“Money has no moral opinions.”
Source : "Fictional character: Joe Morse". "Force of Evil", 1948.
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“The fundamental premise of liberalism is the moral incapacity of the American people.”
Source : Alan Keyes' Speech at the Christian Coalition Dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire, www.keyesarchives.com. February 6, 1999.
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“I have a very close friendship with the skaters.”
Source : "Eric Heiden 25: An exclusive interview". Interview with Charlie Snyder, snyderemarks.com. February 17, 2005.
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“A writer's work may be a coded autobiography, but only a very close friend could decipher it.”
Source : Nina Bawden (2011). “In My Own Time: Almost an Autobiography”, p.99, Hachette UK
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