When I learnt to write I became my own master, I became very strong, and that strength is with me to this very day.
V. S. NaipaulRead
I think when you see so many Hindu temples of the 10th century or earlier disfigured, defaced, you realise that something terrible happened. I feel the civilisation of that closed world was mortally wounded by those invasions the old world is destroyed. That has to be understood. Ancient Hindu India was destroyed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the destruction of ancient Hindu civilization and its cultural heritage due to invasions.
In this quote, V. S. Naipaul emphasizes the profound loss suffered by ancient Hindu civilization, as evidenced by the disfigurement of their temples. He suggests that these alterations symbolize a significant and devastating impact on the culture, art, and history of Hindu India, indicating a need for acknowledgment and understanding of this historical trauma.
Themes
HinduismCivilizationInvasionDestructionHistory
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on cultural heritage, one might mention this quote to highlight the impact of historical invasions.
More from V. S. Naipaul
All quotes →It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts. That's where everything starts unravelling.
V. S. NaipaulRead
If you decide to move to another country and to live within its laws you don't express your disregard for the essence of the culture. It's a form of aggression.
V. S. NaipaulRead
One must always try to see the truth of a situation - it makes things universal.
V. S. NaipaulRead
His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.
V. S. NaipaulRead
All the things that were read to me by my father were stories about things becoming all right.
V. S. NaipaulRead
Similar quotes
Africans in the United States must remember that the slave ships brought no West Indians, no Caribbeans, no Jamaicans or Trinidadians or Barbadians to this hemisphere. The slave ships brought only African people and most of us took the semblance of nationality from the places where slave ships dropped us off.
John Henrik ClarkeRead
All historical writing, even the most honest, is unconsciously subjective, since every age is bound, in spite of itself, to make the dead perform whatever tricks it finds necessary for its own peace of mind.
Carl L. BeckerRead
You all must realize that Mandela was not the only man who suffered. There were many others - hundreds who languished in prison and died. Many unsung and unknown heroes of the struggle.
Winnie Madikizela-MandelaRead
If we trace the history of any nation backwards into the past, we come at last to a period of myths and traditions which eventually fade away into impenetrable darkness.
Bal Gangadhar TilakRead
This wicked man Hitler, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred. this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame.
Winston ChurchillRead
Nigeria has had a complicated colonial history. My work has examined that part of our story extensively.
Chinua AchebeRead