To me, there is nothing higher than fiction. Nothing. It is fundamentally who I am. I am a teller of stories. For me, that's the only way I can make sense of the world, with all the dance that it involves.
Arundhati RoyRead
Some things come with their own punishments. Like bedrooms with built-in cupboards. They would all learn more about punishments soon. That they came in different sizes. That some were so big they were like cupboards with built-in bedrooms. You could spend your whole life in them, wandering through dark shelving.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Some experiences carry their own consequences, and implications of choices can be vast and confining.
In this quote, Arundhati Roy highlights the idea that certain choices or circumstances come with inherent challenges or disadvantages. The metaphor of 'bedrooms with built-in cupboards' suggests that some situations may seem convenient or appealing at first but can lead to restrictions and limitations, much like being trapped in a vast, dark space. The reflection on 'punishments' emphasizes that life presents various forms of difficulty and that some of these can be far more overwhelming than they initially appear.
Themes
PunishmentsChoicesConsequencesLimitationsLife
In practice
Example use cases
During a talk on the consequences of decisions, one might say this quote to reflect on the hidden challenges of seemingly good choices.
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Caste is about dividing people up in ways that preclude every form of solidarity, because even in the lowest castes, there are divisions and sub-castes, and everyone's co-opted into the business of this hierarchical, silo-ised society.
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When I decided to write 'The God of Small Things', I had been working in cinema. It was almost a decision to downshift from there. I thought that 300 people would read it. But it created a platform of trust.
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In California, there are huge problems because of dams. I'm against big dams, per se, because I think that they are economically unfeasible. They're ecologically unsustainable. And they're hugely undemocratic.
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To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
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