By then Esthappen and Rahel had learned that the world had other ways of breaking men. They were already familiar with the smell. Sicksweet. Like old roses on a breeze.

That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless'. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.

Wars are never fought for altruistic reasons. They're usually fought for hegemony, for business. And then of course there's the business of war.

He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair.

Ammu said that human beings were creatures of habit, and it was amazing the kind of things one could get used to.

...a political struggle that does not have women at the heart of it, above it, below it, and within it is no struggle at all.

She viewed ethnic cleansing, famine and genocide as direct threats to her furniture.

Empathy may be the single most important quality that must be nurtured to give peace a fighting chance.

NGOs are dangerous. They do what the missionaries used to do in Colonial times. They are Trojan Horses. The worse the situation, the more the NGOs.

Pray, and let God worry.

Engaging in activities devoid of difficulty, lounging in risk-free zones, is life without great meaning.

We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.

He disliked emotion not because he felt lightly but because he felt deeply.

If you do the best and the most you can today, don't worry about tomorrow.

Truth has many dimensions, and the way you arrive at truth in complex situations is through many perspectives.

Sincerity is the way to heaven.

At the end of the day, it's hard to keep relationships with people. I've got my family, my best friends and if a girl's gonna be a part of that then it's got to be good. If not, I'm out.

The price of freedom is the willingness to do sudden battle anywhere, any time and with utter recklessness.

Inside I feel much like a 12-year-old or a 17-year-old who knows big words.