147 Quotes by Vikram Seth

Boredom provides a stronger inclination to write than anything.

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

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

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.

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.

I recall drinking sherry in California and dreaming of England, where I ate dalmoth and dreamed of Delhi. What is the purpose, I wonder, of all this restlessness? I sometimes seem to myself to wander around the world merely accumulating material for future nostalgias.

My eyes close. I am here and not here. A waking nap? A flight to the end of the galaxy and perhaps a couple of billion light-years beyond?

I think if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And worth thinking about it as well.

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.