Olives and Peace

[auburntine.livejournal.com]

I just saw this article about olive trees and politics in the New York Times. It reminded me of the story of Klimun and Gerosthenes Phresine tells Eugenides in The King of Attolia. It especially reminded me of the quote:

"Fields can be reseeded every year, but there is little point in planting trees that will be cut down before they grow old enough to bear fruit. So, where there is no peace, there are no trees." 

Comments

[thesehnsucht.livejournal.com]

huh... you're right
ugh I feel bad about not having anything deep or meaningful to say at the moment

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting article! And it makes the QT quote seem really timely and appropriate. Thanks for posting the link.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Wow, very much like KoA. Oranges and olives. What an interesting, sad article. This line:

“The citrus are like children, they are very fragile, very thin and they need lots of attention and effort,” Mr. Khan said. “But the olive tree is a tough thing, it survives by its own strength.”

And this one:
“People don’t understand how difficult it is to plant a tree, to make it grow and produce fruit. All they know is how to cut it down in five minutes and burn it for warmth.”

[amolegere.livejournal.com]

That is amazing! I love that about MWT's books, you can find deep real world connections like this! Thanks for sharing this link!

On my trip to Sicily they had tons of olive trees everywhere so I was running around like a kid in a candy shop taking pictures of them all. Everyone thought I was obsessed with olives while I was lolling about the Thief and the Sea of Olives, Klimon and Gerosthenes, etc, etc. I absolutely adore olive trees! They have so much personality :D