Stories–individual stories, family stories, national stories–are what stitch together the disparate elements of human existence into a coherent whole. We are story animals.
YANN MARTELStories–individual stories, family stories, national stories–are what stitch together the disparate elements of human existence into a coherent whole. We are story animals.
YANN MARTELEven when God seemed to have abandoned me, he was watching. Even when he seemed indifferent to my suffering, he was watching. And when I was beyond all hope of saving, he gave me rest. Then he gave me a sign to continue my journey.
YANN MARTELWar subjects itself to transportation in a way that we find acceptable.
YANN MARTELIf you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn’t love hard to believe?
YANN MARTELLife and death live and die in exactly the same spot, the body. It is from there that both babies and cancers are born.
YANN MARTELAny writer will be happy and good only if they know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
YANN MARTELWe don’t want any invention. We want the ‘straight facts,’ as you say in English.” Isn’t telling about something–using words, English or Japanese–already something of an invention? Isn’t just looking upon this world already something of an invention?
YANN MARTELMy life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition.
YANN MARTELMisery loves company, and madness calls it forth.
YANN MARTELMy gratitude to him is as boundless as the Pacific ocean.
YANN MARTELIt is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.
YANN MARTELRepetition is important in the training not only of animals but also of humans.
YANN MARTELAfterwards, when it’s all over, you meet God. What do you say to God?
YANN MARTELThe blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving.
YANN MARTELHindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat wearing Muslims.
YANN MARTELTo lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews, creatures who people the tree of your life and give it new branches.
YANN MARTEL