ByQuotes

Jose Saramago Quotes

Powerful Jose Saramago for Daily Growth

About Jose Saramago

José Saramago (November 16, 1922 – June 18, 2010) was a Portuguese novelist, essayist, and poet who rose to global prominence for his innovative storytelling and profound exploration of human existence. Born in Azinhaga, a rural village in Portugal, Saramago spent much of his childhood in Lisbon where he developed a love for literature and a keen awareness of the social injustices that plagued his country under the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar. In 1945, Saramago began working at the National Theater of São Luiz in Lisbon, honing his skills as a playwright while also contributing to various newspapers and magazines. His first novel, "Terra do Pecado" (Land of Sin), was published in 1947 but met with limited success. It was not until the publication of "O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis" (Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis) in 1984, a fictional account of the final days of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa's alter ego, that Saramago gained significant recognition. Saramago's major works include "Baltasar e Blimunda" (Blindness), "Ensaio sobre a Cegueira" (Seeing), and "A Jangada de Pedra" (The Stone Raft). His most renowned novel, "Cementério das Cebolas" (The House of Spirits), was published in 1982 and won the prestigious Camões Prize. In 1998, Saramago became the first Portuguese author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his allusive narratives, rich imagination, and unique ability to breathe life into the destiny of characters and places. Throughout his prolific career, Saramago tackled themes of love, politics, death, and memory with a blend of realism and fantasy that defied conventional storytelling. His literary legacy continues to inspire readers and writers alike around the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Everyone has his own story and the story is always beginning."

This quote by José Saramago underscores the infinite potential for self-discovery and personal growth in each individual's life journey. Essentially, it suggests that regardless of one's age or circumstances, there is always a new chapter to be written in our personal narratives. It encourages us to embrace change, remain open to new experiences, and view our lives as ongoing, evolving stories rather than fixed destinies. This perspective fosters optimism, resilience, and a willingness to grow and adapt over time.

"History is not the past, but it is the present."

This quote by Jose Saramago emphasizes that history isn't merely a record of events from the past; rather, it permeates and influences the present. The decisions we make today, the culture we create, the institutions we uphold – all are shaped by historical contexts and narratives. Therefore, understanding history is crucial for comprehending the complexities of our contemporary world, as it provides us with insights into how we got here and helps us navigate our future.

"The act of writing is an act of faith, a leap into the void."

This quote by Jose Saramago suggests that the act of writing is not merely a technical process but a courageous act of faith, a bold step into the unknown. It implies that writers must have trust in their ideas, their creativity, and their ability to communicate effectively, even though the final outcome is uncertain. Writing, in this perspective, is an adventurous journey into the depths of one's imagination, taking the writer beyond the safety of known ground, just as leaping into the void requires faith that one will land somewhere safe.

"Fate, like life, can be bitter or sweet; sometimes it's both."

This quote by Jose Saramago emphasizes that the course of events in our lives, often referred to as fate, mirrors the complexities of human experience. It suggests that life, much like fate, may encompass a range of emotions, from bitterness due to hardships or adversity, to sweetness derived from joy, love, or success. Saramago subtly highlights that our experiences can be multifaceted and that often, the same event or circumstance can evoke both bitter and sweet feelings. This understanding underscores the resilience of human spirit in navigating the ebbs and flows of life.

"Time is the greatest artist of all, and above all its masterpiece is the present moment."

This quote by Jose Saramago underscores the transformative power of time and emphasizes the unique significance of the present moment. Time, as an artist, continuously shapes and redefines reality, creating a vast array of experiences and perspectives. The masterpiece it produces is the present, which serves as the intersection of past and future, and offers us the opportunity to engage with life in real-time. Saramago encourages us to recognize the fleeting nature of this moment, cherishing its preciousness and using it as a platform for growth and self-discovery.

The world is governed by institutions that are not democratic - the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO.

- Jose Saramago

World, Bank, IMF, Institutions

I am a person with leftist convictions, and always have been.

- Jose Saramago

I Am, Always, Been, Leftist

The period that I could consider the most important in my literary work came about beginning with the Revolution, and in a certain way, developed as a consequence of the Revolution. But it was also a result of the counterrevolutionary coup of November 1975.

- Jose Saramago

Certain Way, November, Coup

When I am occupied with a work that requires continuity - a novel, for example - I write every day.

- Jose Saramago

Work, Every Day, I Write, Continuity

I presume that nobody will deny the positive aspects of the North American cultural world. These are well known to all. But these aspects do not make one forget the disastrous effects of the industrial and commercial process of 'cultural lamination' that the USA is perpetrating on the planet.

- Jose Saramago

Commercial, USA, North, North American

Americans have discovered the fragility of life, that ominous fragility that the rest of the world either already experienced or is experiencing now with terrible intensity.

- Jose Saramago

Life, Rest, Discovered, Ominous

A human being is a being who is constantly 'under construction,' but also, in a parallel fashion, always in a state of constant destruction.

- Jose Saramago

Always, Human Being, Also, Parallel

In effect I am not a novelist, but rather a failed essayist who started to write novels because he didn't know how to write essays.

- Jose Saramago

Started, Rather, Failed, Novelist

The painter paints, the musician makes music, the novelist writes novels. But I believe that we all have some influence, not because of the fact that one is an artist, but because we are citizens.

- Jose Saramago

Artist, Fact, Some, Novelist

As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved - it's the citizen who changes things.

- Jose Saramago

Changes, Citizen, Involved, Intervene

Things will be very bad for Latin America. You only have to consider the ambitions and the doctrines of the empire, which regards this region as its backyard.

- Jose Saramago

Bad, Very, Which, Latin

We're not short of movements proclaiming that a different world is possible, but unless we can coordinate them into an international movement, capitalism just laughs at all these little organisations.

- Jose Saramago

Them, Coordinate, Movements, Organisations

Look what happened with the employment law in France-the law was withdrawn because the people marched in the streets. I think what we need is a global protest movement of people who won't give up.

- Jose Saramago

Think, Give, I Think, Employment

A writer's definitive death is when no one reads his books anymore. That's the final death.

- Jose Saramago

Death, Books, His, Definitive

Though I had come into the world on 16 November 1922, my official documents show that I was born two days later, on the 18th. It was thanks to this petty fraud that my family escaped from paying the fine for not having registered my birth at the proper legal time.

- Jose Saramago

Show, Documents, November, Registered

Abstention means you stayed at home or went to the beach. By casting a blank vote, you're saying you have a political conscience but you don't agree with any of the existing parties.

- Jose Saramago

Conscience, Blank, Means, Casting

Perhaps it is the language that chooses the writers it needs, making use of them so that each might express a tiny part of what it is.

- Jose Saramago

Making, Needs, Use, Chooses

I am the same person I was before receiving the Nobel Prize. I work with the same regularity, I have not modified my habits, I have the same friends.

- Jose Saramago

Work, Habits, Before, Nobel Prize

It is difficult to understand these people who democratically take part in elections and a referendum, but are then incapable of democratically accepting the will of the people.

- Jose Saramago

Will, Part, Democratically, Accepting

I think the novel is not so much a literary genre, but a literary space, like a sea that is filled by many rivers. The novel receives streams of science, philosophy, poetry and contains all of these; it's not simply telling a story.

- Jose Saramago

I Think, Telling, Literary, Streams

I was born in a family of landless peasants, in Azinhaga, a small village in the province of Ribatejo, on the right bank of the Almonda River, around a hundred kilometres north-east of Lisbon.

- Jose Saramago

Small, I Was Born, Hundred, Province

I was a good pupil at primary school: in the second class I was writing with no spelling mistakes, and the third and fourth classes were done in a single year.

- Jose Saramago

Year, Spelling, Classes, Primary

It is economic power that determines political power, and governments become the political functionaries of economic power.

- Jose Saramago

Political, Determines, Political Power

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.

- Jose Saramago

Raw Material, Prefer, Almost, Cliches

Death is present every day in our lives. It's not that I take pleasure in the morbid fascination of it, but it is a fact of life.

- Jose Saramago

Death, Fact, Lives, Morbid

At the end of the 1950s, I started working at a publishing company, Estudios Cor, as production manager, so returning, but not as an author, to the world of letters I had left some years before.

- Jose Saramago

Manager, Some, Production, Letters

Beginning with adolescence, my political formation was oriented in the ideological direction of Marxism. It was natural, being that my thinking was influenced by an atmosphere of active critical resistance. That was the way it was during all of the dictatorship and up to the Revolution of 1974.

- Jose Saramago

Atmosphere, Marxism, Dictatorship

People live with the illusion that we have a democratic system, but it's only the outward form of one. In reality we live in a plutocracy, a government of the rich.

- Jose Saramago

People, Illusion, Rich, Outward

The attitude of insolent haughtiness is characteristic of the relationships Americans form with what is alien to them, with others.

- Jose Saramago

Relationships, Them, Form, Insolent

I had no books at home. I started to frequent a public library in Lisbon. It was there, with no help except curiosity and the will to learn, that my taste for reading developed and was refined.

- Jose Saramago

Curiosity, Learn, Will, Refined

If you're searching for quotes on a different topic, feel free to browse our Topics page or explore a diverse collection of quotes from various Authors to find inspiration.