Antonio Tabucchi quotes

Antonio Tabucchi was an Italian writer and academic, renowned for his works exploring themes of identity and nostalgia. His deep connection with Portuguese culture greatly influenced his novels and essays. He became internationally acclaimed, especially for his novel "Pereira Maintains." Here are 33 of his quotes:

I've always been drawn to tormented people full of contradictions. (Antonio Tabucchi)
I prefer insomnia to anaesthesia. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
But democracy isn't a state of perfection. It has to be improved, and that means constant vigilance. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
Perfection spawns doctrines, dictators and totalitarian ideas. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
The salt of any interesting civilization is mixture. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
People with lots of doubts sometimes find life more oppressive and exhausting than others, but they're more energetic - they aren't robots. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
It's the job of intellectuals and writers to cast doubt on perfection. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
An intellectual is going to have doubts, for example, about a fundamentalist religious doctrine that admits no doubt, about an imposed political system that allows no doubt, about a perfect aesthetic that has no room for doubt. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I live quietly at home among my family and friends. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
Xenophobia manifests itself especially against civilizations and cultures that are weak because they lack economic resources, means of subsistence or land. So nomadic people are the first targets of this kind of aggression. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
Eco sees the intellectual as an organizer of culture, someone who can run a magazine or a museum. An administrator, in fact. I think this is a melancholy situation for an intellectual. (Antonio Tabucchi)
Literature is my life of course, but from an ontological point of view. From an existential point of view, I like being a teacher. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
As a writer, I've always been interested in others. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I claim the right to take a stand once in a while. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I vividly remember the stories my grandfather told me about the carnage of the First World War, which people tend to forget was one of the worst massacres in human history. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
My job is to look at what politics is doing, not be a politician myself. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I don't have any doubts either about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps some more should be added to the list, but I don't have the slightest doubt about human rights. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I was born in the Second World War during the Nazi invasion of my country. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
The most important basis of any novel is wanting to be someone else, and this means creating a character. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I don't want to promote my own image either. I don't like going on television or mixing in literary circles. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
In a novel, my feelings and sense of outrage can find a broader means of expression which would be more symbolic and applicable to many European countries. (Antonio Tabucchi)
But I don't think I have any particular talent for prediction, because when you have three or four elements in hand, you don't have to be a genius to reach certain conclusions. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
Literature for me isn't a workaday job, but something which involves desires, dreams and fantasy. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
Doubts are like stains on a shirt. I like shirts with stains, because when I'm given a shirt that's too clean, one that's completely white, I immediately start having doubts. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi
I don't go for people who lead full and satisfying lives. View quote
Antonio Tabucchi

Antonio Tabucchi

Antonio Tabucchi - Image
Photo: Rebeca Yanke from Madrid, España, CC BY-SA 2.0
Occupation: Italian Writer
Born: September 24, 1943
Died: March 25, 2012
Quotes count: 33

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