To me, there is nothing higher than fiction. Nothing. It is fundamentally who I am. I am a teller of stories. For me, that's the only way I can make sense of the world, with all the dance that it involves.
Arundhati RoyRead
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of love, awareness of life's complexities, and the pursuit of beauty and understanding in a harsh world.
Arundhati Roy's quote captures the essence of human experience by urging us to embrace love and to be aware of the inherent disparities and violence in life. It encourages us to seek joy and beauty even amidst sadness while advocating for a deep understanding of complexity, strength, and the importance of observation and remembrance, suggesting that true wisdom lies in our ability to reconcile these elements.
Themes
LoveAwarenessComplexityBeautyUnderstandingLife
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a speech about the human condition at a philosophy seminar.
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To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
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