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Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie Quotes

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Famous Salman Rushdie Quotes

“In Europe, the Enlightenment of the 18th century was seen as a battle against the desire of the Church to limit intellectual freedom, a battle against the Inquisition, a battle against religious censorship. And the victory of the Enlightenment in Europe was seen as pushing religion away from the center of power. In America, at the same time, the Enlightenment meant coming to a country where people were not going to persecute you by reason of your religion. So it meant a liberation into religion. In Europe, it was liberation out of religion.”

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Author:Salman Rushdie
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“In India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the fashionable language of 'respect.' What is there to respect in any of this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around the world in religion's dreaded name?”

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Author:Salman Rushdie
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“Not even the visionary or mystical experience ever lasts very long. It is for art to capture that experience, to offer it to, in the case of literature, its readers; to be, for a secular, materialist culture, some sort of replacement for what the love of god offers in the world of faith.”

WorldLoveLongArtLastsArtistCultureLiteratureCasesReaderOffersGod LoveCaptureSecularMysticalVisionariesReplacementsMystical Experiences
Book:Is nothing sacred?
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“Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. And never forget that writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things--childhood, certainties, cities, doubts, dreams, instants, phrases, parents, loves--that go on slipping , like sand, through our fingers.”

WorldWritingTryingDreamStarsParentForgetCitiesTalkingDoubtToo MuchOne ThingChildhoodGoes OnThousandBreathsAimSafetyFingersArguingCertaintyBrokePhrasesInstantSandNever ForgetBloodyDeep BreathSlippingGrinningSafety NetParents LoveTake A Deep Breath
Book:Conversations with Salman Rushdie
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“What kind of idea are you? Are you the kind that compromises, does deals, accomodates itself to society, aims to find a niche, to survive; or are you the cussed, bloody-minded, ramrod-backed type of damnfool notion that would rather break than sway with the breeze? – The kind that will almost certainly, ninety-nine times out of hundred, be smashed to bits; but, the hundredth time, will change the world.”

WorldLifeKindDoeIdeasBitsDealsBreakTypeHundredAimNotionNineCompromiseChanging The WorldBloodyBreezeNinetyNicheNinety Nine
Book:The Satanic Verses
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“A book is a product of a pact with the Devil that inverts the Faustian contract, he'd told Allie. Dr Faustus sacrificed eternity in return for two dozen years of power; the writer agrees to the ruination of his life, and gains (but only if he's lucky) maybe not eternity, but posterity, at least. Either way (this was Jumpy's point) it's the Devil who wins.”

IfsWayYearsTwoBookWinningProductsReturnLuckyDevilGainsEternityAgreeContractsDozenDrsPosterityPactFaustusInvert
Book:The Satanic Verses
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“As I look back, I feel a touch of pride at my younger self's dedication to literature, which gave him the strength of mind to resist the blandishments of the enemies of promise. The sirens of ad-land sang sweetly and seductively, but I thought of Odysseus lashing himself to the mast of his ship, and somehow stayed on course.”

FeelsMindLooksSelfCoursesLiteratureEnemyLandPridePromiseShipsAdvertisingAdsDedicationSirensStrength Of MindMastsOdysseusYounger Self
Author:Salman Rushdie
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