We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography - to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience.
About This Quote
About Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje was a contemporary Canadian novelist and poet. Philip Michael Ondaatje is a Ceylon-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- Death — Contemplations on mortality, loss, and the legacy we leave
- Experience — Learning through living, doing, and facing the world