These words sound light-hearted.
…but the story behind this week’s quote comes out of a very dark part of history.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes his experiences as a prisoner in a forced labor camp of the former Soviet Union in his most famous work “The Gulag Archipelago”.
“Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. Use your memory! Use your memory! It is those bitter seeds alone which might sprout and grow someday.
Look around you – there are people around you. Maybe you will remember one of them all your life and later eat your heart out because you didn’t make use of the opportunity to ask him questions. And the less you talk, the more you’ll hear.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
A somber story, yet such uplifting words, and powerful statement. Cherish experiences and people over things, always. They are worth keeping close.
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