God save us from people who mean well.
Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy.
“All over India, all over the world, as the sun or the shadow of darkness moves from east to west, the call to prayer moves with it, and people kneel down in a wave to pray to God. Five waves each d...”
“Wherever his faltering mind,unsteadily wanders,he should restrain itand bring it under self-controlKrishna, the mind is faltering,violent, strong, and stubborn; I find it as difficultto hold as the...”
“I've always felt that the performance of a raag resembles a novel - or at least the kind of novel I'm attempting to write. You know,' he continued, extemporizing as he went along, 'first you take o...”
“But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they're bad they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they're good, I turn into a social moron for d...”
“And you spend your day going around from the house of the washerman to the house of the sweeper, asking about this one's son and that one's nephew, but spending no time with your own family. It is ...”
“She had dispersed. She was the garden at Prem Nivas (soon to be entered into the annual Flower Show), she was Veena's love of music, Pran's asthma, Maan's generosity, the survival of some refugees ...”
“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: "Go down again - I dwell among the people.”
“We limit ourselves and God who wants to work through us”
“God can only work through those who have totally identified themselves with His will and purpose”
“It has often been our best instincts, not our worst, that have led us to do harm in the world”
“Kindness is goodness hidden in the heartMore often than declared in speech.”
“Kindness is in a prison till it findsRelease in words or deeds.”
“To be of value to humanity, start by thinking for yourself.”
“Love is not an emotion. It is your very existence.”
“The General belonged to the learned type of military men who believed that liberal and humane views can be reconciled with their profession. But being by nature a kind and intelligent man, he soon ...”
