Tony Hillerman Quotes

We will always need to be reminded that we are human. Art gives us that.

People treat serious subjects so seriously, which is so obvious a way of dealing with them. I'm always thinking that the best way of dealing with them is to show people as human beings.

I see myself as a witness to humanity.

Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. This is what I try to tell my students: this is one great thing that literature can do - it can make us identify with situations and people far away.

It's great to express yourself and tell other people's stories and get into the minds of people who aren't like you.

The strength of fiction is not in reading about yourself, but in reading about other people.

I am a human being; nothing human can be alien to me.

One thing that I would like to get across is that even the most horrible events do have explanations that we can understand. And it's not always comfortable for us to understand, because in order to understand, we have to see how we're not so far away from the people in question.

I feel like the world would be a better place if more people experienced a little bit of someone else's experience.

For me, when we're all human beings, it's just interesting that we cannot understand the other person or how they think. That's one part of the human aspect that fascinates me.

I'm trying to communicate with other people about humanity and stuff, man!

'Ida' is about humanity, about guilt and forgiveness. It's not a film that deals with an issue as such. It's more universal.

Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto.I am human: nothing human is alien to me.

Be kind. It's worthwhile to make an effort to learn about other people and figure out what you might have in common with them. If you allow yourself to be somewhat curious - and if you get into the habit of doing that - it's the first step to being open minded and realizing that your points of view aren't totally opposite.

I think a lot of the source of how people are treated depends on the fact if someone recognizes them as a human being or not, you know what I mean?

I'm human. But overall, whenever I see anyone being made fun of or given a hard time, I rush to their defense. I want to help them because I know how it feels.

We are all trying to make it the best way we know how, so when we look at each other as individuals and nations, we should do so with compassion.

I do not like sports, unless you consider treating all humankind with love and respect a sport.

I think what's important is to give space to the range of human experience.

This is what I tell my students: step outside of your tiny little world. Step inside of the tiny little world of somebody else. And then do it again and do it again and do it again. And suddenly, all these tiny little worlds, they come together in this complex web. And they build a big, complex world.

Out: Reading is fundamental. In: Feeling is fundamental.

I think what makes us human - is our interconnectedness among people. It's our ability to form and maintain relationships. It's the barometer by which we call ourselves human.

Let's use our stories to encourage listening to one another and to hear not just the good news, but also the pain that lies at the back of a lot of people's stories and histories.

As a writer and as a reader, I really believe in the power of narrative to allow us ways to experience life beyond our own, ways to reflect on things that have happened to us and a chance to engage with the world in ways that transcend time and gender and all sorts of things.

My first job is to entertain, but if, while you're enjoying, you start to question something you never thought about before or empathize with, relate to, love someone you only thought of as 'other' once upon a time - how awesome is that.