MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS BY AZIZ NESIN
Category: Writing and Poetry

     Everyone knows what engineers,judges,workers and doctors do;but not so many understand the meaning of the work of writers and poets.What is the point of literature apart from helping the reader to while away the time?

      From the moment we are born till the moment we die,we people try to understand the world around us;and the more we know it,the more we love it.That is why old people,who have known the world longer,love it more and are more attached to the world and life than the younger.

      Consequently,to love something,it is essential we  understand it. Ignorance breeds fear.People fear the dark,because in the dark,they cannot recognize the objects that surround them.Fear breeds enmity.An enemy is something unfamiliar and unknown.

      Man is the measure of all things.This is why,first and foremost,we try to understand man.First we always think of ourselves,then about others;and finally,about society as a whole.To do this,we have the aid of  science.But science is not the only means to knowledge.Science cannot illumine the complex labyrinth of man's spritual essence.This is the task of literature, which can penetrate the inner recesses of the human heart,lighten the darkness and reveal the mysteries.Literature helps us to understand the essence of man;and when we start to understand each other better,we begin to develop friendly feelings for each other.The task of literature is to draw people closer together,showing them as they are with their good and bad points.

      Literature is the thread which links people and peoples;culture and cultures.

      People who know themselves and others well,cannot destroy the values that were created by their ancestors and that are being created by their contemporaries.They believe that the spritual treasures of humanity are our common heritage.In so far,people know one another and possess common spritual values that were created by man,they stand for the peace and they fight against war.They know that only in conditions of peace can preserve the heritage of the world culture.Thus the literature serves to maintain the spritual and cultural values created by mankind throughout the milleniums. 

      The fundamental the task of the author today is to understand the very basic function of literature.But the work o0f the writer today is not only limited in helping people to understand one another.The author has one more duty,which is much more important and vital.This duty is to help people understand the necessity for change in the historical development of society,simply to say the transformation.

       All progressive writers in Turkey today are aware of this vital task.As for me personally,I am a humorist.My task is to make people laugh,but at the same time to make them think.When I make people laugh,I try at the same time to fulfill my mission as a comrade of peace - worker of brotherhood,because when people are laughing,they will not fight.Enemies cannot smile at each other.This is the real significance of humour in literature.Humor is a sign of peace,friendship and brotherhood.Have you ever seen a smiling face that was ugly?All faces; whether white,black, yellow or red-Christian,Muslim;jew or Atheist;look pleasant when they smile.As a humourist,I want to make our beautiful world much more beautiful still.

       (THIS TEXT WAS WRITTEN BY AZIZ NESIN PUBLISHED IN LOTUS ISSUE NO:34-4/77,OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1977 AND PRESENTED IN MY BLOG IN MEMORY OF HIM)