Vikram Seth quotes

And an equation is the same whether it's written in red or green ink. (Vikram Seth)
You too will marry a boy I choose,' said Mrs Rupa Mehra firmly to her younger daughter. Lata avoided the maternal imperative by looking around the great lamp-lit garden of Prem Nivas. The wedding-guests were gathered on the lawn. 'Hmm,' she said. This annoyed her mother further. View quote
Vikram Seth
Some men like Jack and some like Jill I'm glad I like them both but still I wonder if this freewheeling Really is an enlightened thing, Or is its greater scope a sign Of deviance from some party line? In the strict ranks of Gay and Straight What is my status: Stray? Or Great? View quote
Vikram Seth
Revision has its own peculiar pleasures and its own peculiar frustrations. The ground rules are already established; the characters already exist. You don't have to bring the characters to life, but you do have to make them more convincing. View quote
Vikram Seth
Poetry, I think, intensifies the reader's experience. If it's a humorous facet of the story, poetry makes it more exuberant. If it's a sad facet, poetry can make it more poignant. View quote
Vikram Seth
I need my natural laziness to be counteracted by obsession in order to do anything. View quote
Vikram Seth
I'm not sure anyone can understand a whole life, even their own. View quote
Vikram Seth
It is exciting to write about the present once one gets beyond the trivia of the moment. As a time to live in, as a time to think about, the present is intriguing. View quote
Vikram Seth
Think of many things. Never place your happiness in one person's power. Be just to yourself. View quote
Vikram Seth
God save us from people who mean well. View quote
Vikram Seth
I sometimes seem to myself to wander around the world merely accumulating material for future nostalgias. (Vikram Seth)
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. View quote
Vikram Seth
Is it not love that knows how to make smooth things rough and rough things smooth? View quote
Vikram Seth
What is the difference between my life and my love? One gets me low, the other lets me go. View quote
Vikram Seth
It's not the gods But our own hearts We need to fear. The evil starts Against all odds Not there but here. View quote
Vikram Seth
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. View quote
Vikram Seth
Imagining the flower-pot attacked it The kitten flung the violets near and far And yet, who knows? This morning, as I backed it, My car was set upon by a parked car. View quote
Vikram Seth
Everyone sort of sees his own life and times as being ephemeral. One thinks that everything good or important that happened, happened in the past. But I think that seeing scenes that you are used to, but with the heightening effects of poetry, perhaps makes you value your life and times more than you might otherwise do. View quote
Vikram Seth
I am certainly not allergic to causes - particularly on subjects such as religious intolerance. View quote
Vikram Seth
I think if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. And worth thinking about it as well. View quote
Vikram Seth
In general, questions are fine; you can always seize upon the parts of them that interest you and concentrate on answering those. And one has to remember when answering questions that asking questions isn't easy either, and for someone who's quite shy to stand up in an audience to speak takes some courage. (Vikram Seth)
You can talk good ideas out of existence. View quote
Vikram Seth
I just love music - by no stretch of the imagination am I professionally competent. View quote
Vikram Seth
I often feel newspapers are just filling up space. Of course, I also know people who write really long books. View quote
Vikram Seth
Good music is good music, but it has to be good. View quote
Vikram Seth