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The Left Hand of Darkness
Ursula K. Le Guin
Top 10 Best Quotes
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
“To learn which questions are unanswerable, and not to answer them: this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness.”
“The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.”
“Light is the left hand of darkness and darkness the right hand of light. Two are one, life and death, lying together like lovers in kemmer, like hands joined together, like the end and the way.”
“How does one hate a country, or love one? Tibe talks about it; I lack the trick of it. I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession... Insofar as I love life, I love the hills of the Domain of Estre, but that sort of love does not have a boundary-line of hate. And beyond that, I am ignorant, I hope.”
“Truth is a matter of the imagination.”
“A profound love between two people involves, after all, the power and chance of doing profound hurt.”
“I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth. The only truth I can understand or express is, logically defined, a lie. Psychologically defined, a symbol. Aesthetically defined, a metaphor.”
“It is a terrible thing, this kindess that human beings do not lose. Terrible, because when we are finally naked in the dark and cold, it is all we have. We who are so rich, so full of strength, we end up with that small change. We have nothing else to give. ”
“No, I don't mean love, when I say patriotism. I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression.”
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Book Keywords:
humility, knowledge, certainty, ambiguity, policy, nationalism, love, truth, patriotism, journey, philosophy, politics, imagination, travel, epistemology, goals, science-fiction, future, hurt