Do Not Cut Lose From Your Longings

Each Time I Have The Urge In Me To Make A Statement Or Send A Message Or To Issue A Manifesto, I Don't Bother To Write A Novel. I Write An Article And Publish It In A Popular Newspaper, Or I Make A Television Appearance. I Would Not Waste Five Years Of My Life In Order To Send To The Israeli Readers A Simple Message Such As, "let Us Change A Policy Or Stop The Settlements," Or, "let Us Strive For Peace." This Is Not What It Is About.

There Are Certain Concepts, Which Exist In English, And Are Unthinkable, Untranslatable Into Hebrew And Vice Versa. Hebrew Has A System Of Tenses, Which Is, In A Big Way, Different From The English System Of Tenses, Probably Different Than Any European System Of Tenses, Which Means A Different Sense Of Reality, Which Means A Different Concept Of Time. So, Things Can Be Translated, But They Become Different.

I'm A Great Believer In Compromise. I Know It's Not Popular Among Young Idealists. Compromise Is Not Popular. It's Not At All Popular Among Young People Who These Days Call Themselves "activists." They Think Compromises Are Dishonest, Opportunistic, Humiliating. Not In My Vocabulary. In My Vocabulary, The Word "compromise" Is Synonymous To The Word "life".

In Writing A Novel, The Writer Must Be Able To Identify Emotionally And Intellectually With Two Or Three Or Four Contradicting Perspectives And Give Each Of Them Very A Convincing Voice. It's Like Playing Tennis With Yourself And You Have To Be On Both Sides Of The Yard. You Have To Be On Both Sides, Or All Sides If There Are More Than Two Sides.

The Opposite Of Compromise Is Not Integrity. The Opposite Of Compromise Is Not Idealism. The Opposite Of Compromise Is Fanaticism And Death.