Yann Martel on boredom
Yann Martel32 quotes“The worst pair of opposites is boredom and terror. Sometimes your life is a pendulum swing from one to the other.”
More from Yann Martel
To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above you. It is like losing–I’m sorry, I would rather not go on.
Yann MartelYann Martel Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening.
Yann MartelYann Martel I can’t live for more than four years outside of Canada. I’m Canadian, so ultimately that is my reference point.
Yann MartelYann Martel I felt I was beating a rainbow to death
Yann MartelYann Martel I am not a particularly natural writer. I am not a person who can write in paragraphs the way some writers do. For me, it’s sentence by sentence, sometimes word-by-word. And I revise constantly. It’s a very laborious process, but I love doing it.
Yann MartelYann Martel You may not believe in life, but I don’t believe in death. Move on!
Yann MartelYann Martel I would like to add a third, to wit, the rapid and direct approch of a known killer
Yann MartelYann Martel Misery loves company, and madness calls it forth.
Yann MartelYann Martel At moments of wonder, it is easy to avoid small thinking, to entertain thoughts that span the universe, that capture both thunder and tinkle, thick and thin, the near and the far.
Yann MartelYann Martel I am reminded of a story of Lord Krishna when he was a cowherd. Every night he invites the milkmaids to dance with him in the forest. They come and they dance. The night is dark, the fire in their midst roars and crackles, the beat of the music gets ever faster.
Yann MartelYann Martel Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love – but sometimes it was so hard to love.
Yann MartelYann Martel I chose the name Pi because it’s an irrational number (one with no discernable pattern). Yet scientists use this irrational number to come to a “rational” understanding of the universe. To me, religion is a bit like that, “irrational” yet with it we come together we come to a sound understanding of the universe.
Yann MartelYann Martel I go to mass every Sunday, but love going to mosques too. Muslims pray in a beautiful way.
Yann MartelYann Martel He’s a shy man. Life has taught him not to show off what is most precious to him.
Yann MartelYann Martel To 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 MartelYann Martel Religion is just an alternate way of reading reality – you read material reality, and then you add on an extra layer of religiosity that deepens that understanding of reality. Some countries have lost that capacity, or dismissed it or marginalized it.
Yann MartelYann Martel
Original quotes
From our community writers
Don’t compare her to sunshine and roses when she’s clearly orchids and moonlight.
Melody LeeMelody Lee Oh moonlight, continue to shine on me. As you light up the sky, maybe some peace will come to me.
ShamaShama Stop counting the reasons why they should be loved and start counting the many reasons why you are the one who is worth loving.
Ayaka HaseAyaka Hase Sure, there are oceans and seas and magnificent things – but none of them are you.
L.T. PhoenixL.T. Phoenix I wish you the wildest of dreams.
Kate WestKate West The way you look at me, The way you make me feel whole, The way you make me feel safe, thats poetry to me.
Barbara GianquittoBarbara Gianquitto You cannot leave and have me too I cannot exist in two places at once-when you ask if we can still be friends.
Rupi KaurRupi Kaur Live to be happy not to impress.
Hayley EvansHayley Evans
Meet the writers
More on boredom
I would rather die of passion than of boredom.
Emile ZolaEmile Zola I have a fear of being boring.
Christian BaleChristian Bale This is the curse of our age, even the strangest aberrations are no cure for boredom.
StendhalStendhal The boredom of married life inevitable destroys love, when love has preceded marriage.
StendhalStendhal If you make decisions based upon people’s reactions or judgments then you make really boring choices.
Heath LedgerHeath Ledger No regrets. There is no time for that. Regret is boring.
A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman I know definitive points in my life and in relationships because of my songs. I write my music so that I’ll never be bored of it.
Amy WinehouseAmy Winehouse My desire to experiment comes from my attention-deficit approach to cosmetics. I just get really bored, really easily.
Paloma FaithPaloma Faith
