New Delhi, April 1 -- "People were many things before the war, and then they were something completely different. I'm telling you, it's all mixed-up and jumbled." - Daniel Kehlmann

LiveMint's quote for the day is by Daniel Kehlmann, the only male author shortlisted for the International Booker 2026. Kehlmann captured the profound instability of the human identity when faced with total societal collapse.

With this quote, he explores how the "civilised" self can be completely overwritten by the demands of survival and power during wartime.

Kehlmann rejected the idea of a fixed, essential soul. Instead, he posits that human character is contingent upon circumstances.

Kehlmann said war destroys the logic of people who go through it. The p...