Quotation
Quote by Olga Tokarczuk
Literature begins with that “why,” even if we were to answer that question over and over with an ordinary “I don’t know.”
Explore the idea
Understanding this quote
The quote presents literature as beginning with a question: “why?” An answer is not required to start the process. Even repeatedly saying “I don’t know” keeps the question open, allowing thought, curiosity, and further exploration to continue. Literature therefore grows from the effort to ask and consider difficult questions, even when no clear answer is available.
Source & trust
About this quotation
- Source
- NobelPrize.org — Nobel Lecture
- Format
- Official Statement
Explore the idea
Topics
Join the community
Keep meaningful words close.
Save quotes, follow people and topics, join conversations, and publish words of your own.
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
“I've decided that my process consists of throwing myself at the computer often enough that writing happens.”
“To read and write is a paradise.”
“Somewhere in the middle is the vital language we Africans use: it is a synthesis of two literary experiences.”
“For this, indeed, is the main source of our ignorance—the fact that our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be infinite.”
Read quote“التحوُّل هو طبيعة الأشياء وصميمها.”
“I am scared to write non-comedic material because I fear it will come across as melodramatic.”
“When I write it’s usually an interior process with a lot of changes happening at breakneck speed in my head.”
“A morte é a única solução para o problema da vida.”
“The editing has got to be in the writing.”
A Current Beneath the Clouds
Mara trusted her instruments because they never hesitated. Then a group of students brought her readings that refused to agree.
Read Story