Translatero.com > Citations > Citations Gunter Grass

Anglais Russe Allemand Espagnol Français Italien Portugais Polonais

The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.

Democracies Have Freedom Jobs

It makes me realise that the fantasy of nature is much larger than my own fantasy. I still have things to learn.

Fantasy Realising Stills

People have always told tales. Long before humanity learned to write and gradually became literate, everybody told tales to everybody else and everybody listened to everybody else's tales. Before long it became clear that some of the still illiterate storytellers told more and better tales than others, that is, they could make more people believe their lies.

Believe Lying Writing

On sorrow floats laughter.

Floats Laughter Sorrow

Information networks straddle the world. Nothing remains concealed. But the sheer volume of information dissolves the information. We are unable to take it all in.

Information Volume World

Melancholy and utopia are heads and tails of the same coin.

Coins Melancholy Tails

Art is accusation, expression, passion. Art is black charcoal crushing white paper.

Art Crush Passion

Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes.

Things Change Translations Translators

Even bad books are books and therefore sacred.

Book Sacred

After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power. The belief is now that everything - and everyone - is fair game.

Games Rivals Suicidal

And when the sun goes down and the mood comes upon me, I'll watch the play of the colors on the water, yield to the fleetly dissolving images, and turn into pure feeling, all soft and nice.

Color Nice Yield

Everything bigger than life attracts a crowd.

Bigger Bigger Than Life Crowds

How easily the routine of sin establishes itself.

Routine Sin

Love That’s it: The cashless commerce. The blanket always too short. The loose connexion. To search behind the horizon. To brush fallen leaves with four shoes and in one’s mind to rub bare feet. To let and rent hearts; or in a room with shower and mirror, in a hired car, bonnet facing the moon, wherever innocence stops and burns its programme, the word in falsetto sounds different and new each time. Today, in front of a box office not yet open, hand in hand crackled the hangdog old man and the dainty old woman. The film promised love.

Heart Men Moon

It's dangerous to watch staggering butterflies. They have a plan but it has no meaning.

Butterfly Dangerous Watches

We already have the statistics for the future: the growth percentages of pollution, overpopulation, desertification. The future is already in place.

Environmental Pollution Future Growth

I have found that words that are loaded with pathos and create a seductive euphoria are apt to promote nonsense.

Found Nonsense Seductive

Where man had been, in every place he left, garbage remained. Even in his pursuit of the ultimate truth and quest for his God, he produced garbage. By his garbage, which lay stratum upon stratum, he could always - one had only to dig - be known. For more long-lived than man is his refuse. Garbage alone lives after him.

Long Men Quests

As a child I was a great liar. Fortunately my mother liked my lies. I promised her marvelous things.

Children Liars Mother

I expected more from literature than from real, naked life.

Literature Naked Real