I take six or seven years to write really small books. There is a kind of aesthetic of leanness, of brevity.
Mohsin HamidRead
It's not that, living in Pakistan, I feel an enormous constraint on how I can write and what I can say; rather, I recognize that one has to navigate these things... Am I aware of things that one could say that would be risky or that could be dangerous? Certainly I'm aware of those things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the importance of awareness and caution in communication within a constrained environment.
In this quote, Mohsin Hamid reflects on his experiences as a writer in Pakistan, recognizing the careful navigation required when expressing ideas and opinions. He acknowledges the presence of constraints that may limit freedom of expression, yet emphasizes the necessity of being aware of the risks involved in articulating one's thoughts, thus illustrating the complex relationship between creativity and caution in restrictive contexts.
Themes
WritingExpressionConstraintsAwarenessPakistan
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about the challenges faced by writers in oppressive regimes.
More from Mohsin Hamid
All quotes →When the forces are aligning against hybridity, it harms everyone, as we are all migrants. Growing up in Pakistan, I know just how oppressive that kind of puritanical mindset can be.
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Some of my relatives held on to imagined memories the way homeless people hold onto lottery tickets. Nostalgia was their crack cocaine, if you will, and my childhood was littered with the consequences of their addiction : unserviceable debts, squabbles over inheritances, the odd alcoholic or suicide.
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Stories helped me unite parts of my existence that might otherwise have seemed irrevocably split by geography and time. And stories helped me find a future in which I, such a mongrel, could be comfortable.
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I think there's a growing courage among the younger generation of American writers. Because of the more superficial treatment of characters taking place in cinema, they have had to deal with that by digging deeper into who these people are.
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Part of the reason people abroad resent the United States is something Americans can do very little about: envy. The richest, most powerful country in the world attracts the jealousy of others in much the same way that the richest, most powerful man in a small town attracts the jealousy of others.
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