--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more foreign to me, to my existence…" description: "\"The more foreign to me, to my existence, to your core existence, the more foreign the foreign language, it's really moving to me to think, to get to ex..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57c/nathan-englander-8048_believe_the-more-foreign-to-me-to-my-existence-t_2923551.jpg" --- # The more foreign to me, to my existence, to your core… ![“The more foreign to me, to my existence, to your core existence, the more foreign the foreign language, it's really moving to me to think, to get to experience my own story crossing those boundaries. To have that experience that I so cherished as a reader. I can't believe this. To me, it's really…” quote by Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57c/nathan-englander-8048_believe_the-more-foreign-to-me-to-my-existence-t_2923551.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57c/nathan-englander-8048_believe_the-more-foreign-to-me-to-my-existence-t_2923551.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57c/nathan-englander-8048_believe_the-more-foreign-to-me-to-my-existence-t_2923551.jpg) > “The more foreign to me, to my existence, to your core existence, the more foreign the foreign language, it's really moving to me to think, to get to experience my own story crossing those boundaries. To have that experience that I so cherished as a reader. I can't believe this. To me, it's really nice because that would be a thing where I'm like, "There may be lots of Jews in my work. I'm not writing stories for Jews. I'm telling stories about people, and Jews are people, too."” [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing about diverse characters expands personal narrative, showing that stories about any group belong to all humanity. **In simple terms:** Writing for any group shows shared humanity. Key Takeaway Embrace inclusive storytelling. Themes identity language inclusion Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - publishing - education - community outreach - cultural exchange Key Concepts cultural representation narrative boundaries authorial responsibility literary diversity Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure authentic representation? - What boundaries does language cross in storytelling? A Different Perspective Risk of tokenism if not handled authentically. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boundaries/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-foreign-4272437/) [Experience Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-story-977022/) [Foreign language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-language/) [Jew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jew/) [Judaism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judaism/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-really-1005410/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Really nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-nice/) [Stories Jews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-jews-4272438/) [Telling stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-stories/) ## Related quotes > [I am a bohemian person. I don't speak German, and I live in a foreign country where all the signs are in German. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-newcombe/i-am-a-bohemian-person-i-don-t-speak-german-and-i-live-in-a-foreign/) [Anton Newcombe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-newcombe/) > [So writing stories is not easier in comparison to the playwriting or translation; the stories are easier in league with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/so-writing-stories-is-not-easier-in-comparison-to-the-playwriting-or/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [“If events occur to challenge and test us and we experience them only as a story to be recorded and sold, then have we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/if-events-occur-to-challenge-and-test-us-and-we-experience-them-only/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [The lovers enter into a story together - "this how we met, this is how we were meant for each other" - and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-febos/the-lovers-enter-into-a-story-together-this-how-we-met-this-is-how-we/) [Melissa Febos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-febos/) > [We live in story like a fish lives in water. We swim through words and images siphoning story through our minds the way a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baldwin/we-live-in-story-like-a-fish-lives-in-water-we-swim-through-words-and/) [Christina Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baldwin/) > [The fact that somebody's telling you a story about people who didn't exist doesn't make the experience of the story any less real in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-darnielle/the-fact-that-somebody-s-telling-you-a-story-about-people-who-didn-t/) [John Darnielle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-darnielle/) > [We cannot think without language, we cannot process experience without story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-baldwin/we-cannot-think-without-language-we-cannot-process-experience-without/) [Christina Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-baldwin/) > [Don't despair for story's future or turn curmudgeonly over the rise of video games or reality TV. The way we experience story will evolve,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-gottschall/don-t-despair-for-story-s-future-or-turn-curmudgeonly-over-the-rise/) [Jonathan Gottschall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-gottschall/) > [“Postmoderns must have the opportunity to experience the story as a story without the gospel being continually reduced to mere message.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-arthur/postmoderns-must-have-the-opportunity-to-experience-the-story-as-a/) [Sarah Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-arthur/) > [No matter how close to personal experience a story might be, inevitably you are going to get to a part that isn't yours and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roddy-doyle/no-matter-how-close-to-personal-experience-a-story-might-be/) [Roddy Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roddy-doyle/) > [My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/my-own-experience-is-that-once-a-story-has-been-written-one-has-to-2/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [“It's a story you can break down and analyze and find analogies and lessons in it, and then it becomes a story about life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-shpancer/it-s-a-story-you-can-break-down-and-analyze-and-find-analogies-and/) [Noam Shpancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-shpancer/) > [I like to have an album arc that comes from an experience rather than a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-hopkins/i-like-to-have-an-album-arc-that-comes-from-an-experience-rather-than/) [Jon Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-hopkins/) > [I still feel, as I did when I was six or seven, that books are simply the best way to experience a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-reeve/i-still-feel-as-i-did-when-i-was-six-or-seven-that-books-are-simply/) [Philip Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-reeve/) > [Honestly, from a very young age, before I had the language, really - anywhere that I encountered binary, whether it was in clothing or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asia-kate-dillon/honestly-from-a-very-young-age-before-i-had-the-language-really/) [Asia Kate Dillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asia-kate-dillon/) ## More by Nathan Englander > [I would drink gallons of coffee a day. Even now, off caffeine, I talk faster than anyone you've ever met. I finally recognized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-would-drink-gallons-of-coffee-a-day-even-now-off-caffeine-i-talk/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I know nobody believes in peace anymore, but what else is there to work toward? 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And watching empathy recede in the world is terrifying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/empathy-is-what-obsesses-me-and-watching-empathy-recede-in-the-world/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [There's an Armed Forces Haggadah and an Alcoholics Anonymous Haggadah and an LGBT Haggadah. Some people make a new Haggadah every year. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/there-s-an-armed-forces-haggadah-and-an-alcoholics-anonymous-haggadah/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [Harder than waking from a nightmare was trying to wake herself into one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/harder-than-waking-from-a-nightmare-was-trying-to-wake-herself-into/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [When you see 'editor' on a book, there are many permutations of what that title can mean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/when-you-see-editor-on-a-book-there-are-many-permutations-of-what/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [So writing stories is not easier in comparison to the playwriting or translation; the stories are easier in league with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/so-writing-stories-is-not-easier-in-comparison-to-the-playwriting-or/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [The thing you start noticing as books go by, is that you become aware not only of a shape of a career, but of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/the-thing-you-start-noticing-as-books-go-by-is-that-you-become-aware/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I feel like people who become writers are people who have been saved by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-feel-like-people-who-become-writers-are-people-who-have-been-saved/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I don't think it's the writer's job to give answers or to give opinions. In fact, when a writer has answers, I think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-don-t-think-it-s-the-writer-s-job-to-give-answers-or-to-give/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) > [I didn't sleep the night I finished 'Sister Hills.' It was so unsettling. I felt really wild. I didn't have a clue. It's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-englander/i-didn-t-sleep-the-night-i-finished-sister-hills-it-was-so-unsettling/) [Nathan Englander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) [Explore all 84 Nathan Englander quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-englander/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) [Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The more foreign to me, to my existence, to your core existence, the more foreign the foreign language, it's really moving to me to think, to get to experience my own story crossing those boundaries. To have that experience that I so cherished as a reader. I can't believe this. To me, it's really nice because that would be a thing where I'm like, \"There may be lots of Jews in my work. I'm not writing stories for Jews. 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