When I learnt to write I became my own master, I became very strong, and that strength is with me to this very day.
V. S. NaipaulRead
We cannot understand all the traits we have inherited. Sometimes we can be strangers to ourselves.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the complexities of self-identity and inheritance of traits.
V. S. Naipaul's quote suggests that our understanding of ourselves is often limited by the traits we inherit, whether they come from our ancestry, culture, or personal experiences. It emphasizes the idea that we may not fully comprehend the motivations, characteristics, or behaviors that define us, leading to a feeling of estrangement from our own identities. This can provoke introspection about the nature of self-discovery and the factors that shape who we are.
In practice
In a discussion about personal growth at a workshop.
When I learnt to write I became my own master, I became very strong, and that strength is with me to this very day.
It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts. That's where everything starts unravelling.
If you decide to move to another country and to live within its laws you don't express your disregard for the essence of the culture. It's a form of aggression.
One must always try to see the truth of a situation - it makes things universal.
His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.
I think when you see so many Hindu temples of the 10th century or earlier disfigured, defaced, you realise that something terrible happened. I feel the civilisation of that closed world was mortally wounded by those invasions the old world is destroyed. That has to be understood. Ancient Hindu India was destroyed.
This felicitous supposition declared that there is only one Individual, and that this indivisible Individual is every one of the separate beings in the universe, and that these beings are the instruments and masks of divinity itself.
Whatever the reason, for most of the present century, the literature and publicity of the old established [animal welfare] groups made a significant contribution to the prevailing attitude that dogs and cats and wild animals need protection, but other animals do not. Thus people came to think of "animal welfare" as something for kindly ladies who are dotty about cats, and not as a cause founded on basic principles of justice and morality.
It's true that most American citizens think of themselves as living in a democratic country. But when was the last time that any Americans actually sat down and came to a collective decision? Maybe if they are ordering pizzas, but basically never.
If it is not totalitarian to arrest a man and detain him, when you cannot charge him with any offence against any written law β if that is not what we have always cried out against in Fascist states β then what is it?β¦ If we are to survive as a free democracy, then we must be prepared, in principle, to concede to our enemies β even those who do not subscribe to our views β as much constitutional rights as you concede yourself.
I had become, with the approach of night, once more aware of loneliness and time - those two companions without whom no journey can yield us anything.
Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.