South Asian Literature Quotes & Sayings

Rebellion sounded like a lot of fun, but in Calcutta there was nothing to rebel against. Where would it get you? — Bharati Mukherjee

Truth ever lovely - since the world began, The foe of tyrants, and the friend of man. — Thomas Campbell

Because democratic institutions do not renew themselves as effortlessly as flowering trees, they demand the ceaseless tinkering of people who possess both the courage and the honesty to admit their mistakes and accept responsibility for even the most inglorious acts. — Bill Vaughan

The divorced Indian lady combines every fantasy about the liberated, wicked Western woman with the safety net of basic submissive familiarity. — Bharati Mukherjee

When I started really singing I was 17, 18 years old. I used to go around trying to be a singer in the Bronx. My knees would shake but I learned by doing. — Dominic Chianese

I hated childhood / I hate adulthood / And I love being alive. — Mary Ruefle

I do not need to understand words to know he is disappointed I am not a boy. Some things need no translation. And I know, because my body remembers without benefit of words, that men who do not welcome girl-babies will not treasure me as I grow to woman - though he call me princess just because the Guru told him to.

I have come so far, I have borne so much pain and emptiness!

But men have not yet changed. — Shauna Singh Baldwin

Just as soldiers at their best cannot be equalled in courage, so at their worst nobody can excel them in vandalism. — Dennis Bardens

It's murder to doubt yourself in life. It took until I was 45 to get to that point. As hard as it is in your work, it's harder in your life. But it can be done. — Alan Arkin

What law enforcement agencies and insurers do not understand is that driving while high is actually a safe activity, — James Shaffer

But you have to sacrifice yourself for YOURSELF, too. — Darnell Lamont Walker

Fear not the unknown. For it is a sea of possibilities. — Tom Althouse

The grass is not only greener on the side you water but also on the side you prevent preys from feeding on. Learn to keep out the preys and see your lawn flourish. — Kemi Sogunle

You can either plan to be eternally vigilant and ready, eschewing life as we know it, or be willing to enjoy life and pay the price. — Jeff Grubb

One realizes the immortality of true love only after the lover dies — Kanza Javed

I always have loved the Stradivarius. My teacher, Josef Gingold, he had a Stradivarius. As a treat, he would put it under my chin and let me play a few notes, and I remember that feeling of the overtones, the complexity of the sound. It's like a great wine. — Joshua Bell

Any work that is not rooted in myth and poetry or that does not partake of the depth and essence of the universe is merely a ghost. — Hans Arp

For girls of our class, only a convent-school education would do. This meant that until we reached the age of marital consent, we could be certified (of course) as virgins, but also as never having occupied unchaperoned confined space of any kind with a boy of our own age who was not a close relative. — Bharati Mukherjee

Where, in Heaven's name, could anyone even be alone in Calcutta? What hanky-panky business, in my mother's words, could go on? Everyone knew the rules and the rules stated caste and community narrowed the range of intimate contact. — Bharati Mukherjee

How could we have allowed the instinct bred within us over the centuries to draw lines and never cross them, an infinity of lines, ever-smaller lines, ever-sharper distinctions? I grieved for Didi's generation of "girls of good family," who put caste, duty and family reputation before self-indulgence. — Bharati Mukherjee

When death becomes an escape, when it becomes attractive, the purpose of life is fulfilled. To teach one it's futility, it's worthlessness, that is the purpose of life. Incongruously, its value lies in having imparted that lesson.
Bhanggi — Faiqa Mansab

In the nights though, I couldn't help but weave the golden cloth of my dreams. Each stitch from heart to thought, and thought to heart, was painful to bear, even if it was joyous at times. Because each thread was fraught with the fears of being broken midway, lost and never found again.
Nida — Faiqa Mansab

To be poor and be without trees, is to be the most starved human being in the world. To be poor and have trees, is to be completely rich in ways that money can never buy. — Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Gossip is not adopted by the bored. It is an art of discourse adopted by those who have experienced absolutely nothing thrilling in their lives; they have never really fallen in love or casually spoken to a complete stranger, and they never dreamt of doing anything extraordinary. They are a group of people with dull lives and souls. — Kanza Javed

I don't think anyone would look at Colombia today and say that it is failing. This positive outcome is an example of the effective application of smart power - it is succeeding. — James G. Stavridis

One time you mentioned the loneliness inside of marriage and I did not understand what you were saying. Two people are together; they have come from the same place; they share the same values, the same language. Practically speaking, they are the two halves of one consciousness. They eat the same food; they have a child; they sleep in the same bed, how can they be lonely. — Bharati Mukherjee