Seven Wonderful Quotes By Antonio Tabucchi

The works of Antonio Tabucchi are wonderfully charming due to their simplicity and freshness. The way they are written is so unique that they can transport you to different places. But this is not surprising. No ordinary writer would be able to express such thoughts and universal truths.

This Italian author was deeply in love with Portugal. However, he was born in Pisa, Italy. Oddly enough, he was born on the same day that the Allies bombed this city to liberate it from the Nazis. From a young age he was an avid reader and passionate about travel. Therefore, many of his quotes refer to this.

The memory and dreams also have a place of their own in the works of Antonio Tabucchi. In fact, he looked up to Fernando Pessoa. It was Pessoa’s influence, in addition to his own analyzes of the reality of the time, that made him the most prominent contemporary writer. Now we will discuss some wonderful quotes by Antonio Tabucchi.

1. To stay in the home country

There are several quotes by Antonio Tabucchi that talk about his origins. It is one of the aspects in which Fernando Pessoa’s works showed the most influence. As a consequence, he moved to Portugal, a country he ended up falling completely in love with.

It seems that this quote exposes his position on this subject: “I have never left my country. I am planted in it like a stalk. ” Not only does this quote apply to his personal situation, but also to those who have never left their homeland. No matter how far they go, their roots will always be where they grew up.

2. Antonio Tabucchi and his quote on memory

Memory is another recurring theme in the texts of Antonio Tabucchi. This one says, for example: “I clearly remember the stories my grandfather told me about the massacre during World War I, which many forget was one of the worst massacres in human history.” As we mentioned above, he was born in the middle of the war, which made this a sensitive topic for him.

We now know that memory is directly linked to creativity and imagination. Well, these characteristics also apply to oblivion. However, there are certain things you can not forget no matter how much you try, especially when it comes to things you have experienced yourself.

Beliefs and the heart

Antonio Tabucchi spoke in one of his most famous quotes, about the common dilemma between what someone thinks and what someone feels. It reads: “It is difficult to have a precise conviction when talking about the reason of the heart.”

Basically, this tells about how ambivalent human emotions tend to be. This is why beliefs that come from subjective reason are usually fragile or at least confusing. When it comes to this, common sense is a more reliable measure.

4. Antonio Tabucchi and his quote on hybridization and racial mixing

Antonio Tabucchi was a traveler. One could say that curiosity was his driving force, so he was always eager to learn. He wanted to learn about different ways one could be, think and live. He was wonderfully open to differences and had a great capacity for wonder.

Therefore, he thought that demographic purism was boring, and thus not so enriching. There is something he expresses in his famous quote: “The salt of any interesting civilization is mixture.” The more diverse a society is, the more interesting things will come out of it.

5. Political positions that do not seem political

Many individuals think that the political world is the world of politicians. But from a deeper perspective, it is crystal clear that power, in many ways, is part of all people’s everyday lives, whether they participate in politics formally or not.

One of Antonio Tabucchi’s phrases reads: “My job is to look at what politics does, not to be a politician myself.” He referred to the importance of being aware of the realities in which power comes into play without directly relying on the actions of someone dedicated to politics.

6. The ideals of perfection according to Antonio Tabucchi

This is a wonderful phrase that can become the mantra of all our democracies:  “Perfection spawns doctrines, dictators and totalitarian ideas.” This expresses sharp criticism of the ideals of perfection, which more often than not have led to disaster.

At both the family and educational levels, and in all other areas of society , this worsening demand for perfection leads only to arbitrariness. This is the most imperfect way to relate to other people.

7. Our current memory

Antonio Tabucchi was also very critical of the way knowledge flowed and how relationships were established. In other words, he was critical of what we call “postmodernism. “

With that said, his next quote is anything but surprising:  “As of today, our memory is in a flat picture.” This means that some events take place so quickly and seem so trivial in front of our eyes that they are sometimes not even stored in our memory.

Antonio Tabucchi was a lively and entertaining writer who dedicated some of his work to talking about people who could not achieve what they dreamed of, or simply did not know how they dreamed. Reading his lyrics is a wonderful experience, which promises great surprises and reflections.