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
Insanity hovered close at hand, like an eager waiter at an expensive restaurant.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that insanity is a constant presence, always waiting to influence us during challenging times.
Arundhati Roy's quote metaphorically describes insanity as an ever-present, almost inviting force, akin to a waiter hovering at a high-end restaurant ready to serve. This imagery conveys the idea that in moments of stress or complexity, the potential for losing one's sanity is nearby, tempting individuals to give in to chaos rather than maintain composure.
Themes
InsanityPresenceTemptationChaosStress
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about mental health, one could use this quote to illustrate the constant battle against insanity in stressful environments.
More from Arundhati Roy
All quotes βWhen she listened to songs that she loved on the radio, something stirred inside her. A liquid ache spread under her skin, and she walked out of the world like a witch.
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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.
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.
Arundhati RoyRead
To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
Arundhati RoyRead
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