[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fjWlguckRa-ee3KT0E6kAIdvfyWb57KR1fyHezW_SrW8":3,"$ffOiqi3s-SJaNaPw9kCyAJGQXGrko4D80fwulI9D8Ftc":12},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"bio_jsonld":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},15261,"Zia Mohyeddin","Z",6,null,"zia-mohyeddin",[],{"quotes":13,"pagination":101},[14,27,38,49,65,82],{"id":15,"quote_text":16,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":19,"source":20,"quote_tag":21,"commentary":9},657948,"The debate, throughout the eighties, was no longer about what we had inherited as our 'culture' or what, indeed, was the 'culture' we adhere to, but about how to root out the insidious 'foreign' (and therefore anti-Pakistan) elements which had crept in. Since it was feared that the slightest whiff from across the border would annihilate our 'ideology', the performing arts were confined to horse and cattle shows, and the fine arts, to calligraphy--at an official level that is.",2,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[22],{"id":23,"tag":24},3346621,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},6963,"pakistan",{"id":28,"quote_text":29,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":30,"source":31,"quote_tag":32,"commentary":9},405869,"A mass of mish-shapened flesh, weighing about two hundred and ninety five pounds, chuckled like a cockatoo. She had a kind of voice you could cut a piece of hardened cheese with.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[33],{"id":34,"tag":35},2355987,{"id":36,"tag_name":37},1180,"voice",{"id":39,"quote_text":40,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":41,"source":42,"quote_tag":43,"commentary":9},299698,"Listening to sublime music relieves you of thought; time comes to a stop; seconds, minutes, hours slide along into a continuum; you are suspended into an exalted world of disbelief.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[44],{"id":45,"tag":46},1819146,{"id":47,"tag_name":48},541,"music",{"id":50,"quote_text":51,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":52,"source":53,"quote_tag":54,"commentary":9},239471,"There are very few sights more off-putting than a woman's hands with corrugated layers of nail polish.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[55,60],{"id":56,"tag":57},1489996,{"id":58,"tag_name":59},417,"style",{"id":61,"tag":62},1489994,{"id":63,"tag_name":64},723,"beauty",{"id":66,"quote_text":67,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":68,"source":69,"quote_tag":70,"commentary":81},65303,"How can there ever be a substitute for a book, which you can read in a bus, lying in your bed or sitting on a rock by the sea? A book allows you to explore your imagination as you interpret the author’s intention. A book offers us refined delights of being a part of something much bigger than ourselves. It gives us the purified exhilaration of nuances and undertone and equivocacy and contrariety; a book gives us imagination and imagination is happiness.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[71,76],{"id":72,"tag":73},453513,{"id":74,"tag_name":75},52,"reading",{"id":77,"tag":78},453505,{"id":79,"tag_name":80},177,"books","### The Backstory\nZia Mohyeddin, a renowned Iranian actor and director, likely penned these words during his formative years as an artist in post-revolutionary Iran (1979). This period was marked by the tumultuous transition from monarchy to Islamic republic, where cultural expression faced significant censorship and scrutiny. As an artist navigating this challenging environment, Mohyeddin would have understood the importance of escapism through literature.\n\n### The Hidden Insight\nThe counter-intuitive truth in this quote lies in its juxtaposition of solitude and community. On one hand, it touts the individualistic pleasure of reading as a solitary activity, yet on the other, it implies that the true joy of reading stems from being part of a larger cultural narrative. This paradox highlights the balance between personal interpretation and communal understanding.\n\n### How to Use This\nTo apply this mindset today, professionals and creatives should strive for a symbiotic relationship with their work. They can do this by embracing the solitude of focused creative time but also acknowledging the broader context in which their projects will be received. By doing so, they can tap into both the personal satisfaction of creation and the communal impact that comes from engaging with a larger story or idea.",{"id":83,"quote_text":84,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":85,"source":86,"quote_tag":87,"commentary":9},65288,"Readers have been so conditioned that they feel embarrassed to admit that they find it hard to stomach the work of a literary giant for fear it would betray their plebian taste. The fact is that a few read, and fewer enjoy, the novels of those who sit on the literary pedestal. We have allowed ourselves to be persuaded that a book with a story can't be quite in the same class as a book that leaves us to interpret what is unsaid.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[88,91,96],{"id":89,"tag":90},453365,{"id":74,"tag_name":75},{"id":92,"tag":93},453366,{"id":94,"tag_name":95},230,"story",{"id":97,"tag":98},453364,{"id":99,"tag_name":100},2633,"novel",{"currentPage":102,"totalPages":102,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":103},1,10]