But if writing about people who are not yourself is illegitimate, then the only legitimate work is autobiography; and as a reader and a citizen, I donβt want to live in that world.
Katherine BooRead
People talk about places like Mumbai as a tale of two cities, as if the rich and poor don't have anything to do with each other.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the stark contrast between the rich and poor in Mumbai, suggesting a divide that limits their interactions and understanding of each other.
Katherine Boo's quote addresses the social and economic disparity in Mumbai, illustrating the existence of a duality within the city where the lives of the privileged and the underprivileged seem disconnected. This metaphorical 'tale of two cities' emphasizes that the rich live in a world separate from the poor, ignoring their shared existence and the implications of such a divide on society.
In practice
During a discussion on urban development, one might quote this to highlight socioeconomic issues.
But if writing about people who are not yourself is illegitimate, then the only legitimate work is autobiography; and as a reader and a citizen, I donβt want to live in that world.
We often have an exaggerated sense of what nonprofits and governments are doing to help the poor, but the really inspiring thing is how much the poor are doing to help themselves.
Everyone in Annawadi talks like this: 'Oh, I will make my child a doctor, a lawyer, and he will make us rich'. It's vanity, nothing more. Your little boat goes west and you congratulate yourself, 'what a navigator I am!' And then the wind blows you east.
...much of what was said did not matter, and that much of what mattered could not be said.
What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood.
We are slaves in the hands of nature - slaves to a bit of bread, slaves to praise, slaves to blame, slaves to wife, to husband, to child, slaves to everything.
Pain and suffering are in themselves bad and should be prevented or minimized, irrespective of the race, sex, or species of the being that suffers. How bad a pain is depends on how intense it is and how long it lasts, but pain of the same intensity and duration are equally bad, whether felt by humans or animals.
Old beliefs die hard even when demonstrably false.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man's mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.