Lao She > Quotes

“Sloth is the natural result of unrewarded hard work among the poor, reason enough for them to be prickly.”
― Lao She

“In this twentieth century, people are judged according to their nation. The people of a powerful nation are people; the people of a weak nation are dogs.”
― Lao She, Mr Ma and Son

“And so the result of several years of Everybody Shareskyism, other than slaughtering people, is for everybody to stand around and stare blankly at each other.”
― Lao She, Cat Country: A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930's

“London fog’s fascinating. Just take its colours, for instance – it may be several all at once. In some parts it’s light grey, and you can still see things within a range of forty or fifty feet. In other parts, it’s such a dark grey that there’s no difference between night and day. In some places it’s greyish yellow, as if the whole of London city is burning damp wood. In yet other places, it’s a reddish brown, and when the fog is this colour you can forget about being able to see anything any more. All you can spot if you’re standing indoors, looking out the windowpane, is the reddish brown colour. If you walk in the fog, it’s dark grey just ahead of you, and it’s not until you raise your head and make an actual effort to pick out a lamp shining somewhere, that you can see the faintest yellow tinge to it. That sort of fog doesn’t come in wisps, but in one whole mass, and blocks out the world. As you walk, the fog follows you. You can’t see anything, and nobody can see you. You don’t even know where you are. Only the fiercest-burning gas lamps penetrate the gloom, and all you can distinguish are the wisps of steam from your own breath before your lips. The rest is hazy and unidentifiable.”
― Lao She, Mr Ma and Son

“L'ambiente negativo ha la sua cattiva influenza, però è anche quello che fa risvegliare le coscienze; i giovani dovrebbero avere un po' di audacia; ma i nostri giovani appena nati sono già mezzo morti. Finché non vedono un sia pur piccolo interesse, va ancora bene; ma appena si prospetta il vantaggio di un po' di denaro, il loro cuore cessa di battere. Di solito si rendono conto di quello che non va, ma basta che si presenti una convenienza personale perché gli vada bene qualsiasi cosa.”
― Lao She, Cat Country: A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930's

“Perhaps the god who had made the Cat People intended them as a joke. They had schools, but no education; politicians but no government; people, but no personal integrity; faces, but no concept of face. One had to admit that their god had gone a little too far with his little joke.”
― Lao She

“the novel is a vicious attack on the guiding ideology of the party – Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought.”
― Lao She, Cat Country

“祁老爷子想到他的子孙“将要住在一个没有兔儿爷的北平，随着兔儿爷的消灭，许多许多可爱的、北平特有的东西，也必定绝了根！”
― Lao She

“È inutile! È un popolo talmente confuso, ingenuo, stupido, misero, povero, disposto a adattarsi, facile all'allegria: soldati armati di bastoni, che rubano foglie di loto e donne; politici così furbi, egoisti, di vedute corte, senza vergogna, che mirano solo al proprio interesse e non si curano della società; l'impegno dell'individuo? Meglio badare alla propria testa che pensare agli altri!”
― Lao She, Cat Country: A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930's

“the representative committee,”
― Lao She, Mr Ma and Son

“Endişe yüzünden cesaretin kaybolması ne kadar aşağılık bir şey!”
― Lao She, Cat Country: A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930's

“It was intensely cold, with sand swirling in the air. The wind seemed to be racing past overhead, blurring the outlines of stars in the sky, except for a few of the largest ones, which shimmered slightly. There was no wind near the ground, but the freezing cold air was everywhere, opening long cracks in the wheel ruts…”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“The exquisite watch towers, the gold and green memorial archways, the vermillion city gates, and the pavilion at Jiangshan Park were silent, as if listening to a sound they might never hear again. The wind blew, like a mournful sigh, snaking through the palace towers and the halls, as if wanting to relate tales of days past… The bridge was practically deserted. Dull moonlight shone down, cold and desolate, on expanses of ice on both sides. Dim outlines of distant pavilions cast dark shadows… with only their yellow roof tiles glimmering faintly. A white pagoda reaching into the hazy clouds cast a desolate chill on everything, causing the three lakes to reveal their northern bleakness… As he was crossing the bridge, Xiangzi shivered from the icy expanse below and refused to go any farther. Normally, when he was pulling his rickshaw across the bridge, he concentrated on his feet, afraid of a misstep, as if the sights around him did not exist. Now he was free to look, but the scenery frightened him. The cold, gray ice, the rustling trees, and the deathly pale pagoda were so forlorn… Even the white stones of the bridge at his feet seemed abnormally bleak and so white that even the street lamps were subdued and dreary. He did not want to move, he did not want to look, and he definitely did not want to be with her.”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“London fog’s fascinating. Just take its colours, for instance – it may be several all at once. In some parts it’s light grey, and you can still see things within a range of forty or fifty feet. In other parts, it’s such a dark grey that there’s no difference between night and day. In some places it’s greyish yellow, as if the whole of London city is burning damp wood. In yet other places, it’s a reddish brown, and when the fog is this colour you can forget about being able to see anything any more. All you can spot if you’re standing indoors, looking out the windowpane, is the reddish brown colour. If you walk in the fog, it’s dark grey just ahead of you, and it’s not until you raise your head and make an actual effort to pick out a lamp shining somewhere, that you can see the faintest yellow tinge to it. That sort of fog doesn’t come in wisps, but in one whole mass, and blocks out the world. As you walk, the fog follows you. You can’t see anything, and nobody can see you. You don’t even know where you are. Only the fiercest-burning gas lamps penetrate the gloom, and all you can distinguish are the wisps of steam from your”
― Lao She, Mr Ma and Son

“祥子象傻了一般，看着大家忙乱，他只管往外掏钱。他的眼红得可怕，眼角堆着一团黄白的眵目糊；耳朵发聋，楞楞磕磕的随着大家乱转，可不知道自己作的是什么。”
― Lao She, 文学巨匠老舍作品珍藏集（套装53册）

“The old fellow gazed out at the empty tent, painted a soft green by the carbide lamps, and at the tables, now missing their tablecloths, and felt utterly desolate, imagining that this is what his funeral would be like: the tent would become a place of mourning, but there would be no dutiful sons or grandsons in mourning attire kneeling before his coffin, nothing but a few casual acquaintances playing mahjong through the night”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“At midnight, Huniu delivered a dead infant and then stopped breathing.”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“Quand on gagne six yuans par mois, c'est vraiment six yuans, car on ne peut avoir un yuan de plus dans sa poche sans qu'aussitôt les gens vous regardent de travers et se mettent à jaser sur votre compte. En revanche, quand on peut en gagner dans les cinq cents, il est certain qu'on ne peut s'en tenir à ce chiffre et que plus vous avez d'argent, plus les gens vous admirent. Ca peut sembler tout à fait injuste, mais, en fait, que vous le croyez ou non, c'est comme ça que ça se passe !”
― Lao She, Gens de Pékin

“As he grew accustomed to the dark, his mind seemed to stop functioning and he could no longer keep his eyes open. Was he still walking, or had he stopped? All he sensed was a wavelike motion in his head, like black ocean swells; the darkness attached itself to his mind, unsettled, flustered, confused”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“He put up with the pain, no matter how bad it got, knowing that it was inevitable, a necessary passage on the way to where he was going. Without passing this test, he would never be able to go out and run as he wanted.”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“The man was still there. Suddenly forgetting about the snow on the street, he picked up his pace. Ahead was a long, straight, silvery-white road illuminated by the cold glare of street lamps; behind, a detective on a bicycle.”
― Lao She, Rickshaw Boy

“-"Katlanmak, evet! Ben yabancı ülkelere gittim ve dünyadaki durumu biliyorum. Fakat hiçbir sorunu çözmek istemeyen bir toplumda katlanma fikri yaygındır. Katlanmasalar nasıl yaşayabilirler?" Küçük Akrep güler gibi konuşmuştu.
+"Kişisel çabalar işe yaramaz mı?"
-"Yaramaz! Bu kadar kafası karışık, cahil, zavallı, fakir, halinden memnun hatta mutlu bir halk; ellerinde sopa olan, büyülü yaprakları ve kadınları çalmaktan başka bir şey bilmeyen askerler; kurnaz, bencil, öngörüsüz, utanmaz, kendi çıkarlarından başka bir şey düşünmeyen ve toplumla hiç ilgilenmeyen siyasetçiler varken kişisel çaba bir işe yarar mı? Kendi başının çaresine bakmak başkalarıyla ilgilenmekten önemlidir!"
(...)
+"Kötü bir çevrenin etkileri yadsınamaz," dedim sözünü keserek. "Ama bunu çok ciddiye almamak gerekir."
-"Kötü bir çevrenin kötü etkileri olur ama bir başka açıdan da kötü bir çevre insanların uyanmasına sebep olur. Gençlerin kanı kaynamalı ama bizim gençlerimiz doğuştan itibaren yarı ölü gibidir. Eğer küçük çıkarlar elde edemezlerse sorun olmaz ama biraz para gördüler mi kalpleri duracak gibi olur. Normal zamanlarda her şeyden memnundurlar ama bir şeyden kişisel çıkar umarlarsa her şeyi kabul etmeye hazırdırlar.”
― Lao She, Cat Country: A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930's

“Umutsuz olmak kendinden vazgeçmenin ifadesidir.”
― Lao She, Cat Country: A Satirical Novel of China in the 1930's