black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

And the process of reading is such a private one. I once came into a room where a friend of mine was reading one of my books, and he clicked his tongue impatiently and shooed me off.

Vikram Seth

For a writer, obsession is a good substitute for self-discipline.
VIKRAM SETH

Discipline Obsession Substitute Writing
You get your inspiration – suggestions – wherever you have to, even from your mother.
VIKRAM SETH

Inspirational Mom Yourself
Quietly they moved down the calm and sacred river that had come down to earth so that its waters might flow over the ashes of those long dead, and that would continue to flow long after the human race had, through hatred and knowledge, burned itself out.
VIKRAM SETH

Burn Calm Earth Flow Hate Human Knowledge Quiet Race River
There are plenty of good Indian writers in English, and none of us feel we are carrying the burden of being a poster boy.
VIKRAM SETH

Carry Feeling Goodness Man Writing
I have a reputation for being hermitlike. I’m not. I’m just obsessed with my work.
VIKRAM SETH

Myself Obesession Reputation Work
You will get what you want but you must want it and not just wish it.
VIKRAM SETH

Inspirational Motivational Yourself
I just love music – by no stretch of the imagination am I professionally competent.
VIKRAM SETH

Eligible Imagination Love Music Myself Professional
Boredom provides a stronger inclination to write than anything.
VIKRAM SETH

Boredom Strong Writing
I’m not sure anyone can understand a whole life, even their own.
VIKRAM SETH

Life Myself Understand
What is the difference between my life and my love? One gets me low, the other lets me go.
VIKRAM SETH

Difference Let Go Life Love Myself Relationship
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.
VIKRAM SETH

Elegant Experience Face Poetry Reading Sad Story Thinking
I sometimes seem to myself to wander around the world merely accumulating material for future nostalgias.
VIKRAM SETH

Future Material Nostalgia Time World
Of course, the greater one’s need, the greater one’s propensity to be mesmerized.
VIKRAM SETH

Greatness Mesmerize Need
Don’t put things off till it’s too late. You are the DJ of your fate.
VIKRAM SETH

Fate Late Time Yourself
Think of many things. Never place your happiness in one person’s power. Be just to yourself.
VIKRAM SETH

Happiness Person Place Power Thinking Yourself
It’s not the gods But our own hearts We need to fear. The evil starts Against all odds Not there but here.
VIKRAM SETH

Evil Fear God Heart Need Start
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.
VIKRAM SETH

Hands Love Night Oneself Right Sleep Tears Yourself
Fiction basically is a form of gossip where you want to enter other people’s lives, the lives of people you don’t know, and you want to know what’s going to happen to them.
VIKRAM SETH

Fiction Gossip Live People Yourself
I am certainly not allergic to causes – particularly on subjects such as religious intolerance.
VIKRAM SETH

Myself Reason Religious Subject Tolerance
You have to learn a few things, which you do along the way, but basically, poetry is a matter of the ear. Iambic pentameters or what constitutes a stanza comes naturally – your ears will know.
VIKRAM SETH

Learning Natural Poetry Way Yourself
The past is the past, and he can’t make amends, only hope that the gain will outlast the damage.
VIKRAM SETH

Change Damage Hope Past
Those books of mine that are remunerative – I’m not talking about poetry here – take years to write, and I am never sure they’ll be successful. So writing is a risk in more senses than one.
VIKRAM SETH

Book Oneself Poetry Risk Success Talk Writing
Dear though the reader might be, I’d be silly to cater to what the reader wanted.
VIKRAM SETH

Myself Reading
In life’s brief game to be a winner A man must have; oh yes, above All else, of course, someone to love.
VIKRAM SETH

Game Life Love Man Winner
God save us from people who mean well.
VIKRAM SETH

God People Protection
I think if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And worth thinking about it as well.
VIKRAM SETH

Action Myself Thinking Worth
I certainly think its very important that writers as citizens – not necessarily as writers, but just as ordinary citizens – should talk about things that matter to them.
VIKRAM SETH

Citizenship Important Myself Talk Thinking Writing

And the process of reading is such a private one. I once came into a room where a friend of mine was reading one of my books, and he clicked his tongue impatiently and shooed me off.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

And the process of reading is such a private one. I once came into a room where a friend of mine was reading one of my books, and he clicked his tongue impatiently and shooed me off.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Vikram Seth Quotes