“If religion is true, one must believe. And if one chooses not to believe, one’s choice is marked under the category of a refusal, and is thus never really free: it has the duress of a recoil.” With literary belief, however, “one is always free to choose not to believe.” This, Wood argues, is the freedom of literature; it is what constitutes its “reality.”
James Wood
The Broken Estate: Essays on Literature and Belief
-
Working on it...
-
Working on it...
-
Working on it...
-
Working on it...
Similar quotes
“The true free-will ain't a matter of choosing one of many choices...but of creating variety of options, then deciding the best choice of all.”
Toba Beta
Master of Stupidity
“I am a believer in free will. If my dog chooses to hate the whole human race except myself, it must be free to do so.”
Diana Wynne Jones
Castle in the Air
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
Soren Kierkegaard
“You don't choose what to believe. Belief chooses you.”
Steven Galloway
The Cellist of Sarajevo
“When you always know what is right, where is freedom? No one chooses the wrong, Jacen Solo. Uncertainty sets you free."-Vergere”
Matthew Stover
Traitor