7 Beautiful Quotes From Antonio Tabucchi

The works of Antonio Tabucchi are incredibly enchanting. This is due to their simplicity and freshness. The way they are written is so unique that they are able to take you to another place. However, this is no surprise. No ordinary writer could express such thoughts and universal truths.

This Italian writer was deeply in love with Portugal. However, he himself was born in Pisa in Italy. Strangely enough, the day he was born was the same day the Allies bombed this city to liberate it from the Nazis.

From an early age he was an avid reader and a passionate traveler. That is why many of his quotes refer to these topics. Memory and dreams also occupy a special place in Antonio Tabucchi ‘s works. In fact, he looked up to Fernando Pessoa.

It was Pessoa’s influence together with his own analysis of the realities of his time that made him one of the foremost contemporary novelists. Later in this article, we will discuss some of the most amazing quotes from Antonio Tabucchi.

1. Staying in your home country

There are several quotes from Antonio Tabucchi in which he talks about his origin. This is one of the aspects on which Fernando Pessoa’s work had the greatest influence. As a result, Tabucchi moved to Portugal. Over time, he fell in love with this country.

This quote seems to demonstrate his position on the matter:  “I never left my country, I am rooted in it.”  This sentence does not only apply to his personal situation. It also applies in particular to anyone who had to leave their home country. However far they go, their roots will always be where they were raised.

2. Antonio Tabucchi Quotes About Memory

Memory is yet another theme that recurs in Antonio Tabucchi ‘s lyrics. For example, this quote says:  “I vividly remember the stories my grandfather told me about the massacre during World War I. People often forget this was one of the worst mass murders in human history.” 

We’ve noticed it before. He was born in the midst of a war. That made this a very sensitive subject for him.

Today we know that memory is directly linked to creativity and imagination. Well, these characteristics also apply to oblivion. However, there are certain things that you cannot forget, no matter how hard you try. This is especially true when you experience something first hand.

3. Beliefs and the Heart

In one of his most famous quotes, Antonio Tabucchi talks about the so common dilemma between what a person thinks and what he or she feels. It goes like this: “It is difficult to have a precise conviction when it comes to the reasons of the heart.”

Essentially, this quote is talking about how ambiguous human feelings often are. That is also why beliefs that arise from subjective reasons are usually weak or at least somewhat confusing. In this regard, reason is a more reliable criterion.

4. Adultery and Interfaith Marriage: Quotes from Antonio Tabucchi

Antonio Tabucchi was a traveler. You could say that curiosity was what drove him. So he was always eager to keep learning. He wanted to learn more about the different ways of being, thinking and living. Tabucchi was incredibly open to differences. He also had a great capacity for wonder.

For that reason, he thought demographic purism was bland and therefore not so enriching. This is something he expressed in a well-known quote:  “The salt of any interesting civilization is the mix.” The more diverse a society is, the more interesting the things that will come out of it.

5. Political Issues That Don’t Seem Political

Many individuals think that the world of politics is the world of politicians. From a deeper perspective, however, it is crystal clear that power is part of every person’s everyday life in many ways. So it doesn’t matter whether they participate in formal politics.

One of Antonio Tabucchi’s statements goes like this:  “My job is to look at what politics is doing, not to be a politician myself.” 

Here he refers to the importance of paying attention to those realities where power plays a role. However, this should not be directly dependent on the actions of someone devoted to politics.

6. The ideals of perfection according to Antonio Tabucchi

This is an incredible phrase that could become a mantra for our democracies:  “Perfection breeds doctrines, dictators and totalitarian ideas.”  This expresses a sharp critique of the ideals of perfection. They often lead to disaster.

At the family level as well as in education and in all other areas of society, this reinforced demand for perfection only leads to arbitrariness. This is the most imperfect way of dealing with other human beings.

7. Our Current Memory

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

That said, this next quote is anything but surprising:  “As of today, our memory is in a flat encephalogram.” It means that some events happen so quickly. In our eyes it seems so trivial that we sometimes do not store them in our memory ourselves.

Antonio Tabucchi was a lively and entertaining writer. He devoted some of his works to people who failed to realize what they dreamed of or who simply did not know how to dream. Reading his lyrics is a fantastic experience. It promises great surprises and reflection.