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The intellectual's spirit as an amateur can enter and transform the merely professional routine most of us go through into something much more lively and radical; instead of doing what one is supposed to do one can ask why one does it, who benefits from it, how can it reconnect with a personal project and original thoughts.

— Edward Said

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More quotes by Edward Said

I’m interested in the tension between what is represented and what isn’t represented, between the articulate and the silent.

As a way of maintaining relative intellectual independence, having the attitude of an amateur instead of a professional is a better course.

The history of other cultures is non-existent until it erupts in confrontation with the United States.

Culture and Imperialism (1993)

I’ve always been interested in what gets left out.

When one learns something one first performs an act of will, because only by willing to learn can one learn.

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