John Burdett Quotes

• Your fear of letting go prevents you from letting go of your fear of letting go.

  John Burdett

  Letting Go

  15 Copy quote

• I don't want enlightenment, I want him. Sorry Buddha, I loved him more than you.

  John Burdett

  Sorry, Enlightenment, Want

  "Bangkok 8". Book by John Burdett, June, 2003.

  45 Copy quote

• Don't ask me when I first mastered the obvious.

  John Burdett

  Firsts, Obvious, Ask Me

  "Bangkok 8". Book by John Burdett, June, 2003.

  36 Copy quote

• I am moonlighting for the Buddha.

  John Burdett

  24 Copy quote

• I think it is immensely difficult to get the U.S. interested in non-U.S. topics. I dont think this is because the average American reader is disinterested, but more because of publishers playing it safe: if a thriller based in L.A. is a sure winner, why spend money plugging one based in Paris - or Bangkok?

  John Burdett

  Thinking, Average, Paris

  17 Copy quote

• In Southeast Asia the world is understood to be a vast, complex network of interdependent relationships. So when global capitalism makes it impossible for small-time rice farmers to feed their families and make a living, it is a natural thing for anyone in the family who can find an alternative source of income to do so.

  John Burdett

  Income, Alternatives, World

  "Bangkok 8". Book by John Burdett, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 2003.

  6 Copy quote

• It is quite amazing how hard the subconscious works when it is made to understand that this life is not a rehearsal, there is no safety net and no assurance of any final closure. It is also quite appalling to realize how catatonic the imagination can become when we hedge our bets, opt for the safer direction at every fork in the path.

  John Burdett

  Safety, Imagination, Finals

  4 Copy quote

• You don't understand. I only prostitute the part of the body that isn't important, and nobody suffers except my karma a little bit. I don't do big harm. You prostitute your mind. Mind is seat of Buddha. What you do is very very bad. You should not use your mind in that way

  John Burdett

  Karma, Mind, Suffering

  4 Copy quote

• Just studying Buddhism, then meditating and going to Buddhist monasteries, talking to Buddhist monks, combined with the Thai people themselves, changed the way I look at the world.

  John Burdett

  Buddhist, Buddhism, Talking

  "Thai Air. John Burdett on 'Bangkok Haunts'". "Austin Chronicle" Interview, www.austinchronicle.com. June 15, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

• The great weakness of the West is that it has nothing with which to inspire loyalty except wealth. But what is wealth? Another washing machine, a bigger car, a nicer house to live in? Not much to feed the spirit in all that.

  John Burdett

  Loyalty, Car, House

  "Bangkok Tattoo". Book by John Burdett, 2006.

  4 Copy quote

• Expecting to be wrong about most things most of the time brings, finally, the kind of humility that leads to peace. I think.

  John Burdett

  Humility, Thinking, Kind

  4 Copy quote

• To a Buddhist, contradictions only exist in a mind that has been forced to cultivate them.

  John Burdett

  Buddhist, Mind, Contradiction

  "HiSo society". www.theguardian.com. June 25, 2005.

  4 Copy quote

• When you notice light seeping into your coffin, it's hard to go on pretending that you're still dead.

  John Burdett

  Light, Coffins, Goes On

  "Bangkok Haunts". Book by John Burdett, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

• The function of the West is to turn bodies and minds into products. It cannot understand that the rest of the world holds this to be an obscenity, a corruption of our nirvanic nature.

  John Burdett

  Mind, World, Body

  John Burdett (2012). “Bangkok Haunts”, p.156, Hachette UK

  4 Copy quote

• The world other than as advertised can be an amazing place.

  John Burdett

  World, Amazing Places

  4 Copy quote

• Las Vegas is the expression, in glitter and concrete, of Americas brittle and mutating id.

  John Burdett

  Vegas, Expression, Glitter

  7 Copy quote

• There are plenty of brilliant people who are too stressed out to read challenging literary novels.

  John Burdett

  People, Challenges, Stressed

  4 Copy quote

• Shun security, I advise aspiring novelists when they complain to me that they are stuck. Get disoriented. Maybe your agonizing writing block isnt agonizing enough. Your enemy is comfort.

  John Burdett

  Block, Writing, Enemy

  4 Copy quote

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