Nadeem Aslam Quotes

• Pull a thread here and you’ll find it’s attached to the rest of the world.

  Nadeem Aslam

  World, Thread, Interconnectedness

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, Faber & Faber

  49 Copy quote

• Pakistan produces people of extraordinary bravery. But no nation should ever require its citizens to be that brave.

  Nadeem Aslam

  People, Bravery, Citizens

  "What has Malala Yousafzai done to the Taliban?" by Kamila Shamsie, www.theguardian.com. October 10, 2012.

  19 Copy quote

• There is nothing that torments Satan more than the sight of a faithful in prayer.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Prayer, Sight, Faithful

  Nadeem Aslam (2012). “Maps for Lost Lovers”, p.207, Random House India

  13 Copy quote

• To visit certain streets was to realise that only the sky remained unchanged there.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Sky, Certain, Streets

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, p.225, Faber & Faber

  7 Copy quote

• Paper is the strongest material in the world. Things under which a mountain will crumble, you can place on paper and it will hold: beauty at its most intense; love at its fiercest; the greatest grief; the greatest rage.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Grief, Mountain, World

  "Nadeem Aslam: a life in writing". Interview With Maya Jaggi, www.theguardian.com. January 26, 2013.

  6 Copy quote

• Love was the result of having caught a glimpse of another's loneliness.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Loneliness, Glimpse, Results

  5 Copy quote

• All great artists know that part of their task is to light up the distance between two human beings.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Distance, Artist, Light

  Nadeem Aslam (2011). “Maps for Lost Lovers”, p.13, Faber & Faber

  7 Copy quote

• There are no innocent people in a guilty nation.

  Nadeem Aslam

  People, Guilty, Innocent

  Nadeem Aslam (2013). “The Blind Man's Garden”, p.9, Faber & Faber

  7 Copy quote

• How keen everyone is to make this world their home forgetting its impermanence It's like trying to see and name constellations in a fireworks display.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Home, Names, Trying

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, p.354, Faber & Faber

  8 Copy quote

• There are times in this life when a person must do or say things he doesn't want to. Human beings and chains, it is the oldest acquaintanceship in the world.

  Nadeem Aslam

  World, Want, This Life

  Nadeem Aslam (2011). “Maps for Lost Lovers”, p.176, Faber & Faber

  4 Copy quote

• The bullet that has hit us Muslims today left the gun centuries ago when we let the clergy decide that knowledge and education were not important.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Gun, Important, Bullets

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, p.289, Faber & Faber

  4 Copy quote

• As a writer, my homeland is the desk where I work.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Desks, Homeland

  4 Copy quote

• The neighbourhood is a place of...intrigue and emotional espionage, where when two people stop to talk on the street their tongues are like the two halves of a scissor coming together, cutting reputations and good names to shreds.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Cutting, Emotional, Names

  4 Copy quote

• All those who love know exactly the limit they're prepared to go to. They know exactly what is required.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Limits, Prepared, Knows

  4 Copy quote

• Women joked amongst themselves: 'Why do you think a bride cries on her wedding day? It's for the love that this marriage is putting an end to for all eternity. Men may think a woman has no past- "you were born and then I married you"- but men are fools.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Past, Men, Thinking

  Nadeem Aslam (2011). “Maps for Lost Lovers”, p.64, Faber & Faber

  4 Copy quote

• On the journey towards the beloved, you live by dying at every step

  Nadeem Aslam

  Journey, Dying, Steps

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, Faber & Faber

  13 Copy quote

• History is the third parent.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Parent, Thirds

  Nadeem Aslam (2013). “The Blind Man's Garden”, p.7, Faber & Faber

  7 Copy quote

• Afghanistan had collapsed and everyone's life now lies broken at different levels within the rubble.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Lying, Broken, Different

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, p.39, Faber & Faber

  8 Copy quote

• Nothing is an accident: it's always someone's fault; perhaps-but no one teaches us how to live with our mistakes. Everyone is isolated, alone with his or her anguish and guilt, and too penetrating a question can mean people are not able to face one another the next day.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Mistake, Mean, Next Day

  Nadeem Aslam (2012). “Maps for Lost Lovers”, p.200, Random House India

  8 Copy quote

• Her mind is a haunted house.

  Nadeem Aslam

  House, Mind, Haunted Houses

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, p.5, Faber & Faber

  7 Copy quote

• A lie does not become truth just because ten people are telling it.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Lying, People, Doe

  Nadeem Aslam (2011). “Maps for Lost Lovers”, p.102, Faber & Faber

  4 Copy quote

• This is among the few things that can be said about love with any confidence. It is small enough to be contained within the heart but, pull thin, it would drape the entire world.

  Nadeem Aslam

  Heart, World, Enough

  Nadeem Aslam (2008). “The Wasted Vigil”, Faber & Faber

  4 Copy quote

• Paper is the strongest material in the world; paper can handle what I can't.

  Nadeem Aslam

  World, Paper, Materials

  4 Copy quote

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