...the face has limited space. My mother used to say, if you fill your face with laughing, there will be no more room for crying.
Rohinton MistryRead
There was no such thing as perfect privacy, life was a perpetual concert-hall recital with a captive audience.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that true privacy is unattainable and that our lives are constantly observed by others.
Rohinton Mistry's quote reflects on the illusion of privacy in our lives, likening it to a concert hall where spectators are always watching. This metaphor implies that our personal experiences and actions are often scrutinized, creating a sense of vulnerability and reminding us that we are never truly alone. In this context, Mistry invites us to consider how this continuous observation shapes our behavior and our understanding of ourselves in relation to others.
Themes
PrivacyLifeObservationVulnerabilityAudience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the impact of social media on personal privacy.
More from Rohinton Mistry
All quotes βBut nobody ever forgot anything, not really, though sometimes they pretended, when it suited them. Memories were permanent. Sorrowful ones remained sad even with the passing of time, yet happy ones could never be recreated - not with the same joy. Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.
Rohinton MistryRead
What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the end. Carrying your death with you every day would make it hard to waste time on unkindness and anger and bitterness, on anything petty. That was the secret: remembering your dying time, in order to keep the stupid and the ugly out of your living time.
Rohinton MistryRead
If there was an abundance of misery in the world, there was also sufficient joy, yes - as long as one knew where to look for it.
Rohinton MistryRead
Money can buy the necessary police order. Justice is sold to the highest bidder
Rohinton MistryRead
Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.
Rohinton MistryRead
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