Quote by Jose Saramago

I never appreciated 'positive heroes' in literature. They are almost always cliches, copies of copies, until the model is exhausted. I prefer perplexity, doubt, uncertainty, not just because it provides a more 'productive' literary raw material, but because that is the way we humans really are.

I never appreciated 'positive heroes' in literature. They ar

Summary

This quote suggests a preference for complex and flawed characters over simplistic and virtuous ones in literature. The speaker dismisses positive heroes as predictable and unoriginal, lacking depth. Instead, they argue for embracing perplexity and uncertainty as more realistic and relatable aspects of human nature. The mention of "productive" literary raw material implies that exploring the complexities and uncertainties of characters can lead to richer and more meaningful storytelling.

Topics

Positive

By Jose Saramago

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Don't believe everything you read. It's very difficult to be

Don't believe everything you read. It's very difficult to be accepting of our own bodies. This topic deserves it's own book, but since I'm not qualified to write it, I won't. Instead I'll just say this: The pictures staring out at you from the supermarket checkout stands, the images we are all supposed to aspire to? They lie

Inspirational

Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new

Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.

Humor Funny Humour Geography Cities

There are only three things women need in life: food, water,

There are only three things women need in life: food, water, and compliments.

Food

The business that people do in LA on the social level is ama

The business that people do in LA on the social level is amazing. You go to a restaurant, bump into this guy or that guy. The next day you get a call, and they want you in their movie.

Amazing

When asked whether or not we are Marxists, our position is t

When asked whether or not we are Marxists, our position is the same as that of a physicist or a biologist when asked if he is a Newtonian, or if he is a Pasteurian.There are truths so evident, so much a part of people's knowledge, that it is now useless to discuss them.

Truth People

Wise men put their trust in ideas and not in circumstances.

Wise men put their trust in ideas and not in circumstances.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspirational

Drink not the third glass, which thou canst not tame, when o

Drink not the third glass, which thou canst not tame, when once it is within thee.

Alcohol/alcoholism

Calamity is virtue's opportunity.

Calamity is virtue's opportunity.

Seneca (Seneca the Elder)

Trouble Troubles

The ability to take pleasure in one's life is a skill and is

The ability to take pleasure in one's life is a skill and is a kind of intelligence. So intelligence is a hard thing to evaluate and it manifests itself in so many different ways. I do think the ability to know how to live a life and not be miserable is a sign of that.

Intelligence

Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucle

Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891

Crime

Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience

Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the leaves drives him away.

Walter Benjamin

Boredom

The teacher that I was for decades, and that I still am in a

The teacher that I was for decades, and that I still am in a certain way, wondered what was meant by the word education. I was truly dumbfounded at the very thought of dealing with such an essential and extensive subject.