Franz KafkaWe photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes.
About This Quote
We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes. This quote is said by Kiese Laymon, who received the MacArthur Fellowship in 2013. He explains that he started writing to let his life go through him so it isn’t running him over.
He says writing helps him take back control of his life and he doesn’t want his life to run him over. This statement sounds like the opposite action than what we would think it means. He says he wants to find something to let his life go through him so it isn’t running him over.
Usually when we say, “I want my life to run me over,” we mean that we want our lives to be controlling us and making us do things that we don’t want to do. We feel like our lives are running us over when in reality, they are taking care of themselves and doing what they need to do without us getting in their way. This idea is the opposite of what the quote says because, instead of saying I don’t want my life to run me over, the opposite would be saying I want my life to be controlling me and running me over.
However, this quote is not about that kind of control, but rather letting your life run you over so you can take back control of your own destiny.
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More Quotes By Franz Kafka
- Love is a drama of contradictions.
- May I kiss you then? On this miserable paper? I might as well open the window and kiss the night air.
- Yours(now I'm even losing my name - it was getting shorter and shorter all the time and is now: Yours)
- The meaning of life is that it stops.
- L'éternité, c'est long ... surtout vers la fin.