Quotes from Ruskin Bond

There is a distinction to be made between aloneness and loneliness.

When you are old and grey and full of sleep', it is good to have someone to lean on from time to time, and in that respect this agnostic has been blessed by the gods. I still value my solitude, but it is also nice to have someone tucking me into bed at night.

I was never afraid of the dark, and till today I see the night as a friend, giving me the privacy that I find so hard to find by day. Starlight, moonlight, early dawn, all have a special loveliness about them.

Borrowed books and umbrellas are seldom returned

To the inhabitants of the pond, the pond was the world; and to the inhabitants of the world, the world was but a muddy pond.

he tiger is the very soul of India,&when the last tiger has gone,so will the soul of the country.

Rain?. It washes the leaves, Gives new life to grass, Draws out the scent of the earth

Some of us are born sensitive. And if, on top of that, we are pulled about in different directions (both emotionally and physically), we might just end up becoming writers.

He spoke the truth. Rusty always spoke the truth. He defined truth as feeling, and when he said what he felt, he said truth. (Only he didn't always speak his feelings.) He never lied. You don't have to lie if you know how to withhold the truth.

And when all the wars are done,' I said, 'a butterfly will still be beautiful.

When the earth gave birth to this tree, There came no sound: A green shoot thrust In silence from the ground. Our births don't come so quiet— Most lives run riot— But the bud opens silently, And flower gives way to fruit. So must we search For the stillness within the tree, The silence within the root.

We Must Love Someone We Must Love Someone If we are to justify Our presence on this earth. We must keep loving all our days, Someone, anyone, anywhere Outside our selves; For even the sarus crane Will grieve over its lost companion, And the seal its mate. Somewhere in life There must be someone To take your hand And share the torrid day. Without the touch of love There is no life, and we must fade away.

It would be a dull world if it was the same everywhere

Bad times are good times to prepare for better times.

And the earth itself. It smells differently in different places. But its loveliest fragrance is known only when it receives a shower of rain. And then the scent of wet earth rises as though it were giving something beautiful back to the clouds—a blend of all the fragrant things that grow in it.

For better or worse, we are all shaped by our parents.

Don't be afraid of the dark, little one, The earth must rest when the day is done. The sun may be harsh, but moonlight — never! And those stars will be shining forever and ever, Be friends with the Night, there is nothing to fear, Just let your thoughts travel to friends far and near. By day, it does seem that our troubles won't cease, But at night, late at night, the world is at peace.

A good monk would know that contentment is easier to attain than happiness, and that it is enough.

The European languages have their strengths, but for the purposes of cursing out loud you can't beat some of the Indian languages for range and originality.

For nature does things in good order: And birds and butterflies recognize No man-made border

The adventure is not in getting somewhere, it's the on-the-way experience. It is not the expected; it's the surprise. Not the fulfilment of prophecy, but the providence of something better than that prophesied.

As children we are all individualists; it is only as we grow older that we acquire a certain grey similarity to each other.

Looking back on those childhood days, I carry in my mind a picture of grandmother in her rocking chair with a contented owlet sprawled across her aproned lap. Once, on entering a room while she was taking her afternoon nap, I saw one of the owlets had crawled up her pillow til its head was snuggled under her ear. Both grandmother and the owlet were snoring.

It is no use getting upset about delays in India; they come with unfailing punctuality.