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
This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Families often understand each other's pain deeply, but this can lead to hurtful experiences.
In this quote, Arundhati Roy reflects on the complexities of family relationships, suggesting that family members often have an intimate knowledge of each other's vulnerabilities. This deep understanding can foster a sense of connection, but it also has the potential to cause emotional pain as they may unintentionally exploit this knowledge, similar to how a doctor might know exactly where to inflict discomfort in order to diagnose or treat.
Themes
FamilyPainRelationshipsHurtUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a family gathering to spark discussions about family dynamics.
More from Arundhati Roy
All quotes βWhen she listened to songs that she loved on the radio, something stirred inside her. A liquid ache spread under her skin, and she walked out of the world like a witch.
Arundhati RoyRead
Caste is about dividing people up in ways that preclude every form of solidarity, because even in the lowest castes, there are divisions and sub-castes, and everyone's co-opted into the business of this hierarchical, silo-ised society.
Arundhati RoyRead
When I decided to write 'The God of Small Things', I had been working in cinema. It was almost a decision to downshift from there. I thought that 300 people would read it. But it created a platform of trust.
Arundhati RoyRead
In California, there are huge problems because of dams. I'm against big dams, per se, because I think that they are economically unfeasible. They're ecologically unsustainable. And they're hugely undemocratic.
Arundhati RoyRead
To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
Arundhati RoyRead
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