Quote of the day by Lyudmila Ulitskaya: ‘Literature is the best thing humanity has. Poetry is the heart…’ – Russian novelist on why stories still matter

There are some things we consume without ever thinking about what they give back to us. Food nourishes the body, music can alter a mood, and conversation can change the way we see another person. But books have a peculiar ability to do all three at once, they can educate, disturb, comfort and transform us.

For Russian novelist Lyudmila Ulitskaya, that transformative power of literature goes even deeper. She sees poetry not simply as an artistic form, but as something capable of distilling humanity itself into language.

Quote of the day by Lyudmila Ulitskaya: “Literature is the best thing humanity has. Poetry is the heart of literature, the highest concentration of everything that is the best in the world and in man. It is the only true food for your soul.”

Who is Lyudmila Ulitskaya?

Lyudmila Evgenyevna Ulitskaya is an internationally acclaimed Russian novelist and short-story writer whose fiction has explored family, memory, morality, identity, faith and the complexities of ordinary human lives.

Born in 1943 in the Urals, Ulitskaya initially followed a very different path from literature. She studied biology at Moscow State University before working as a scientist at the Institute of Genetics. She later became involved with the Hebrew Theatre of Moscow as a repertory director.

Her fiction eventually brought her international recognition, with novels including The Funeral Party, The Kukotsky Enigma, Daniel Stein, Interpreter, The Big Green Tent and Yakov's Ladder reaching readers around the world.

Ulitskaya's work has also earned major literary honours. She received the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2014 and the Park Kyong-ni Prize in 2012, while Daniel Stein, Interpreter was also recognised for its exploration of religious coexistence and reconciliation. She was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2009 for her overall body of work.

Her fiction is often populated by people who are neither heroes nor villains in simple terms. Instead, she focuses on flawed, complicated individuals whose lives reveal questions about compassion, freedom, morality and human connection.

Meaning behind Ulitskaya’s quote

The quotation is associated with Ulitskaya's novel The Big Green Tent. At first glance, the statement may sound like an extravagant declaration of love for books. But Ulitskaya is making a larger argument about what literature does for human beings.

When she calls literature "the best thing humanity has," she places books among the great achievements of civilization. Literature preserves memories, records experiences and allows one generation to encounter the thoughts of another.

Why does Ulitskaya call poetry the ‘heart’ of literature?

The second part of the quotation becomes even more interesting. Ulitskaya describes poetry as the "heart of literature" because poetry often compresses enormous emotions and ideas into remarkably few words. A poem can capture grief, love, loneliness, beauty or hope in a handful of lines.

Her description of poetry as the "highest concentration" of what is best in humanity suggests that poetry strips language down to its most powerful form.

Unlike information, poetry does not necessarily tell us what to think. Instead, it invites us to feel, interpret and reflect. In a world increasingly dominated by short messages, headlines, notifications and rapidly consumed content, poetry asks us to slow down. It rewards attention rather than speed.

For Ulitskaya, that ability to awaken something within us is precisely why literature can become a kind of nourishment for the soul.

Ulitskaya's other memorable quotes

“Form is what transforms the content of a work into its essence.”

“Judgment is not always required. You don’t need to have an opinion on every issue.”

“Love and hunger rule the world.”