To have access to literature, world literature, was to escape the prison of national vanity, of philistinism, of compulsory provincialism, of inane schooling, of imperfect destinies and bad luck. Literature was the passport to enter a larger life; that is, the zone of freedom. Literature was freedom. Especially in a time in which the values of reading and inwardness are so strenuously challenged, literature is freedom.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Reading world literature offers freedom from narrow national views and bad luck, acting as a passport to a larger life especially when values are challenged.
- In plain terms
- Literature frees you from local limits and gives you a bigger life.
- What can you take from it?
- Reading broadly expands your horizons beyond local biases and limitations.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How has a book changed your perspective?
- Is reading truly a form of freedom?
Another view
Literature requires access and literacy, which not everyone has.
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