Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.
SALMAN RUSHDIELiterature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.
SALMAN RUSHDIEIn the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips.
SALMAN RUSHDIEIf you’re offended, it’s your problem.
SALMAN RUSHDIEThe moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.
SALMAN RUSHDIEIt seems that the right of freedom of speech that was enshrined in numerous constitutions is now under attack by religious institutions.
SALMAN RUSHDIEHe knew what he knew: that the real world was full of magic, so magical worlds could easily be real.
SALMAN RUSHDIEIf somebody’s trying to shut you up, sing louder, and if possible, better.
SALMAN RUSHDIEA poet’s work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.
SALMAN RUSHDIEWe were language’s magpies by nature, stealing whatever sounded bright and shiny.
SALMAN RUSHDIELiterature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way.
SALMAN RUSHDIEFree speech is not just free speech for people you admire. It’s also for people who you think of as reprehensible.
SALMAN RUSHDIESelf-censorship is a lie to yourself; if you are going to be trying to seriously create art, to create literary art, and you decide to hold back, to censor yourself, then you are a fool to yourself and it would be better that you kept your mouth shut and did not speak.
SALMAN RUSHDIEReality is a question of perspective.
SALMAN RUSHDIEFrom the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.
SALMAN RUSHDIEWe are the storytelling animal.
SALMAN RUSHDIEReligion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms. This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.
SALMAN RUSHDIE