Submitted by Kurt:
Lee’s hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. “Don’t you see?” he cried. “The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou shalt,’ meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—’Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ Don’t you see?”
- Excerpt from East of Eden by John Steinbeck
(71 votes, average: 4.54 out of 5)
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That is my favorite passage in East of Eden!
I totally got this tattooed on my wrist on friday! I hate having to explain it all the time but I like the meaning behind the word and I like it a lot better than something conventional.
east of eden is my favorite book of all time, i read it many times a year. the whole discourse on timshel is amazing.
i TOO have a timshel tattoo… i got it about 3 months ago, on the inside of my right ring finger.
i love your tattoo & i love your choice in reading material!
i totally am getting this tattooed on my chest only spelled with the hebrew letters.
fantastic sir.
Ahh i’m getting this on my arm in May! Nice. I’m eventually getting the whole passage as a sleeve.
Kind of to signify how I’m overcoming my own guilt and choosing to be forgiving of myself.
Talk about liberating..
Permanent ink: Literary tattoos leave a lasting impression…
Back in 2002 – I think it was on Hot Type – I watched an interview with Canadian author Ray Robertson…
East of Eden is such a good book.
Beautiful
that is awesome! East of Eden has such good insight & advice…
I have this but in Hebrew! I am going to post it here eventually along with my other literary tattoo.
I got “timshel” put on the top of my foot eight years ago-and it’s still my favorite tat ever