As a child I knew almost nothing, nothing beyond what I had picked up in my grandmother’s house. All children, I suppose, come into the world like that, not knowing who they are.
V.S. NAIPAULThe past has to be seen to be dead; or the past will kill.
More V.S. Naipaul Quotes
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Many writers tend to write summing-up books at the end of their lives.
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I will say I am the sum of my books.
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Life is a helluva thing. You can see trouble coming and you can’t do a damn thing to prevent it coming. You just got to sit and watch and wait.
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Men need history; it helps them to have an idea of who they are. But history, like sanctity, can reside in the heart; it is enough that there is something there.
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The world outside existed in a kind of darkness; and we inquired about nothing.
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All the things that were read to me by my father were stories about things becoming all right.
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We cannot understand all the traits we have inherited. Sometimes we can be strangers to ourselves.
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You need someone to see what you’ve done, to read it and to understand it and to appreciate what’s gone into it.
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The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.
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It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That’s where the mischief starts. That’s where everything starts unravelling.
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I still think it’s really quite wonderful when I read a sentence of mine and it has that quality of lastingness.
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His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.
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The Europeans wanted gold and slaves, like everybody else; but at the same time they wanted statues put up to themselves as people who had done good things for the slaves.
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There are two ways of talking. One is the easy way, where you talk lightly, and the other one is the considered way. The considered way is what I have put my name to.
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It is important not to trust people too much.
V.S. NAIPAUL






