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If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it fall, does it make a sound or not? Hector had read a lot of books by then, he knew all the tricks and arguments of the philosophers. If someone makes a movie and no one sees it, does the movie exist or not?

— Paul Auster The Book of Illusions (2002)

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More quotes by Paul Auster

The story is not in the words; it's in the struggle.

The New York Trilogy (1987)

Men don't begin to live fully until their backs are against the wall.

The Book of Illusions (2002)

For only the good doubt their own goodness, which is what makes them good in the first place. The bad know they are good, but the good know nothing. They spend their lives forgiving others, but they can't forgive themselves.

Man in the Dark (2008)

[G]overnments always need enemies, even when they're not at war. If you don't have a real enemy, you make one up and spread the word. It scares the population, and when the people are scared, they tend not to step out of line.

Oracle Night (2003)

Translators are the shadow heroes of literature, the often forgotten instruments that make it possible for different cultures to talk to one another, who have enabled us to understand that we all, from every part of the world, live in one world.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Paul Auster (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.