A. B. Yehoshua quotes

A. B. Yehoshua was an acclaimed Israeli novelist, playwright, and essayist, often regarded as a leading figure in modern Israeli literature. His works explored themes of identity, belonging, and the complexities of Israeli society. He influenced generations of readers and writers with his profound storytelling and political insights. Here are 34 of his quotes:

And this is one of the major questions of our lives: how we keep boundaries, what permission we have to cross boundaries, and how we do so. (A. B. Yehoshua)
The most difficult and complicated part of the writing process is the beginning. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
One of the dreams of Zionism was to be a bridge. Instead, we are creating exclusion between the East and the West instead of creating bridges; we are contributing to the conflict between East and West by our stupid desire to have more. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
We always knew how to honor fallen soldiers. They were killed for our sake, they went out on our mission. But how are we to mourn a random man killed in a terrorist attack while sitting in a cafe? How do you mourn a housewife who got on a bus and never returned? View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
The weapon of suicide bombing is so desperate that you aren't even left with the possibility of taking revenge or punishing anyone; the terrorist is killed along with his victims, his blood mixing with theirs. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
Traveling is one expression of the desire to cross boundaries. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
Intimate relationships are a gold mine for literature to explore, to understand, to describe. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
We must see what in the Israeli identity - in the Israeli - we can give to other people rather than speaking so often of taking, expanding territory. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
The question of boundaries is a major question of the Jewish people because the Jews are the great experts of crossing boundaries. They have a sense of identity inside themselves that doesn't permit them to cross boundaries with other people. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
I don't think that when Zionism began there was a claim that we were losing - even in part - our capacity to contribute to other peoples. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
I was proud my father spoke Arabic fluently - his father sent him to learn Arabic from a sheikh - and we had Arab friends. His task of understanding the Arabs - not only politics but poetry - was very important; he took it as a vocation. (A. B. Yehoshua)
So with truth - there is a certain moment when one can say, this is the truth and here I put a dot, a stop, and I go to another thing. A judge has to put an end to a deliberation. But for a historian, there's never an end to the past. It can go on and on and on. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
It's not what the rabbis say that defines Jewishness but what we Israelis do every day - our actions and our values. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
Israel is too attached to America, too influenced by America. It should be connected to Europe. America is based on mythology - the free man, the individual, the open frontier. Europe is more conscious of history. Take Britain and Shakespeare. You shape your identity through history. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
Since ideology is part of the human personality, it deserves a place in the kingdom of eternal truths. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
For 50 years - that is, for most of my adult life - I worked tirelessly for the two-state solution in the face of countless frustrations, both on the part of the Israeli governments and the Palestinian Authority. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
I am a serious reader, and I read slowly. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
Jews outside Israel live in permanent contradiction. I think they should come home. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
Jerusalem doesn't belong only to Israelis and Palestinians, Muslims and Jews, but to the world. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
I admit I think it is immoral for Jews to live in the Diaspora. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
The literary trappings and moralizing of science fiction I find insufficiently compelling. (A. B. Yehoshua)
The malady of the Jews is that they don't see territory as part of their identity. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
I deeply respect literature and expect to gain insight from a book and to identify emotionally with its characters. I therefore avoid reading suspense novels or science fiction. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
I only published my first novel at the age of 40. Till then, I wrote short stories. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua
We're living with the Arabs; we have to understand them... Through knowing the Arabs, you know yourself better. View quote
A. B. Yehoshua

A. B. Yehoshua

A. B. Yehoshua - Image
Photo: Arielinson, CC BY-SA 4.0
Occupation: Israeli Novelist
Born: December 19, 1936
Died: June 14, 2022
Quotes count: 34

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