I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
So India’s problem turns out to be the world’s problem. What happened in India has happened in God’s name. The problem’s name is God.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the issues faced by India are reflective of larger global problems tied to religious conflicts and interpretations.
In this quote, Salman Rushdie implies that the complexities and issues arising in India—particularly those related to religion—are not isolated but rather indicative of broader challenges faced by humanity. He suggests that these problems often stem from the way faith is interpreted and utilized, highlighting a universal struggle that transcends geographical boundaries and emphasizing the need for understanding beyond dogma.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of religious conflicts in contemporary society, this quote could be used to highlight the interconnectedness of global issues.
More from Salman Rushdie
All quotes →Killing people because you don't like their ideas - it's a bad thing.
faith without doubt is addiction
I am clearly vulnerable to these more passionate and volatile unstable relationships. I am trying to not be so vulnerable.
In India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the fashionable language of 'respect.' What is there to respect in any of this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around the world in religion's dreaded name?
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.
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A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself.
Only on paper has humanity yet achieved glory, beauty, truth, knowledge, virtue, and abiding love.
If we have no mercy toward others, that is one proof that we have never experienced God's mercy.
Champagne had the taste of an apple peeled with a steel knife.