Quotes from Vikram Seth

in times of trouble it sometimes happened that even those who wanted to help were unable to. They might be tied down themselves for one reason or another; or else circumstances of expediency or some greater need could have kept them less involuntarily away.

For a man who in his friendships and acquaintance looked upon religion and nationality as both significant and irrelevant, the changing composition of the High Court was a cause for sadness.

The secret of life is to accept. Accept happiness, accept sorrow; accept success, accept failure; accept fame, accept disgrace; accept doubt, even accept the impression of certainty.

L'ottusità degli uomini intelligenti, pensò Savita con un sorriso, è la metà delle ragioni che li rendono amabili.

God save us from people who mean well.

But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they're bad they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they're good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals, and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of Middlemarch.

I sometimes seem to myself to wander around the world merely accumulating material for future nostalgias.

All you who sleep tonight Far from the ones you love, No hand to left or right, An emptiness above-- Know that you aren't alone. The whole world shares your tears, Some for two nights or one, And some for all your years.

Is it not love that knows how to make smooth things rough and rough things smooth?

Think of many things. Never place your happiness in one person's power. Be just to yourself.

What is the difference between my life and my love? One gets me low, the other lets me go.

It's not the gods But our own hearts We need to fear. The evil starts Against all odds Not there but here.

You can't blame her,' said Amit. 'After a life so full of tragedy anyone would become hard.' 'What tragedy?' asked Mrs. Chatterji. 'Well, when she was four,' said Amit, 'her mother slapped her--it was quite traumatic--and then things went on in that vein. When she was twelve she came in second in an exam...It hardens you.

Quietly they moved down the calm and sacred river that had come down to earth so that its waters might flow over the ashes of those long dead, and that would continue to flow long after the human race had, through hatred and knowledge, burned itself out.

Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music-not too much, or the soul could not sustain it-from time to time.

Man without life companion is either god or beast.

Every object strives for its proper place. A book seeks to be near its truest admirer. Just as this helpless moth seeks to be near the candle that infatuates him.

Of course, the greater one's need, the greater one's propensity to be mesmerized.

And an equation is the same whether it's written in red or green ink

In life's brief game to be a winner A man must have...oh yes, above All else, of course, someone to love.

Voices Voices in my head, Chanting, 'Kisses. Bread. Prove yourself. Fight. Shove. Learn. Earn. Look for love', Drown a lesser voice, Silent now of choice: 'Breathe in peace, and be Still, for once, like me'.

Oh, no said her mother sadly. You know nothing of the pettiness of women. When brothers agree to split a joint family they sometimes divide lakhs of rupees worth of property in a few minutes. But the tussle of their wives over the pots and pans in the common kitchen--that nearly causes bloodshed.

And the process of reading is such a private one. I once came into a room where a friend of mine was reading one of my books, and he clicked his tongue impatiently and shooed me off.

He had come to a decision about the next step in his life. This decision was irrevocable unless he changed his mind.