The past has to be seen to be dead; or the past will kill.

- V. S. Naipaul

In England people are very proud of being very stupid.

- V. S. Naipaul

Life is a helluva thing. You can see trouble coming and you can't do a damn thing to prevent it coming. You just got to sit and watch and wait.

- V. S. Naipaul

Small things start us in new ways of thinking

- V. S. Naipaul

His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.

- V. S. Naipaul

My life is short. I can't listen to banality.

- V. S. Naipaul

The melancholy thing about the world is that it is full of stupid people; and the world is run for the benefit of the stupid and common.

- V. S. Naipaul

An autobiography can distort; facts can be realigned. But fiction never lies: it reveals the writer totally.

- V. S. Naipaul

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possi…

- V. S. Naipaul