To me, there is nothing higher than fiction. Nothing. It is fundamentally who I am. I am a teller of stories. For me, that's the only way I can make sense of the world, with all the dance that it involves.
Arundhati RoyRead
In California, there are huge problems because of dams. I'm against big dams, per se, because I think that they are economically unfeasible. They're ecologically unsustainable. And they're hugely undemocratic.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Arundhati Roy critiques big dams for their negative economic, ecological, and democratic consequences.
In this quote, Arundhati Roy expresses her opposition to large dams, arguing that they are not only economically unwise but also detrimental to ecological sustainability and democratic processes. She highlights the multifaceted issues surrounding large infrastructure projects, suggesting that they often serve corporate or governmental interests at the expense of local communities and the environment.
Themes
DamsEcologyEconomicsDemocracyInfrastructure
In practice
Example use cases
In an environmental policy discussion, it can emphasize the importance of considering sustainability in infrastructural developments.
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Caste is about dividing people up in ways that preclude every form of solidarity, because even in the lowest castes, there are divisions and sub-castes, and everyone's co-opted into the business of this hierarchical, silo-ised society.
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When I decided to write 'The God of Small Things', I had been working in cinema. It was almost a decision to downshift from there. I thought that 300 people would read it. But it created a platform of trust.
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To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
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The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There's no innocence. Either way, you're accountable.
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No one has the right to be sorry for himself for a misfortune that strikes everyone.
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The fact that astronomies change while the stars abide is a true analogy of every realm of human life and thought, religion not least of all. No existent theology can be a final formulation of spiritual truth.
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