Myths can’t be translated as they did in their ancient soil. We can only find our own meaning in our own time.
Meaning of the quote
The quote means that old stories and myths from the past can't be fully understood today in the same way they were understood long ago. Instead, we need to find our own new meanings and interpretations of these ancient stories based on our own lives and experiences in the present time.
About Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood is a renowned Canadian author who has published a wide range of works, from novels and poetry to nonfiction and children’s books. She is best known for her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale and has won numerous prestigious awards, including two Booker Prizes. Atwood’s works explore themes such as gender, identity, religion, and the power of language.
More quotes from Margaret Atwood
A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Popular art is the dream of society; it does not examine itself.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Canada was built on dead beavers.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
The story as told in The Odyssey doesn’t hold water. There are too many inconsistencies.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
An eye for an eye only leads to more blindness.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
We thought we were running away from the grownups, and now we are the grownups.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
War is what happens when language fails.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
You need a certain amount of nerve to be a writer.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
The answers you get from literature depend on the questions you pose.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Another belief of mine; that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Never pray for justice, because you might get some.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
I’ve never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It’s probably because they have forgotten their own.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
A word after a word after a word is power.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Gardening is not a rational act.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
A divorce is like an amputation: you survive it, but there’s less of you.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
A voice is a human gift; it should be cherished and used, to utter fully human speech as possible. Powerlessness and silence go together.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Their mothers had finally caught up to them and been proven right. There were consequences after all but they were the consequences to things you didn’t even know you’d done.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
If I were going to convert to any religion I would probably choose Catholicism because it at least has female saints and the Virgin Mary.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
This above all, to refuse to be a victim.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
For years I wanted to be older, and now I am.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one ‘race’ – the human race – and that we are all members of it.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Because I am a mother, I am capable of being shocked: as I never was when I was not one.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
Myths can’t be translated as they did in their ancient soil. We can only find our own meaning in our own time.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
If the national mental illness of the United States is megalomania, that of Canada is paranoid schizophrenia.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
The beginning of Canadian cultural nationalism was not ‘Am I really that oppressed?’ but ‘Am I really that boring?’
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor
The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love.
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pepinieriste and inventor