Home / Quotes / Quote by Arundhati Roy

Quote by Arundhati Roy

“I firstly don't think of myself as an activist, I never have. I always say that, I think this word "activist" is relatively recent one. I don't remember when people started being called that or what it means. It reduces both writers and activists, it makes it seem as though a writer's job is to just keep people entertained with best-selling books and the activist's job to keep on repeating the same thing without a great deal of subtlety and intelligence. I don't think either is the case.”

Quote by Arundhati Roy

Author

Arundhati Roy is an Indian author best known for her novel 'The God of Small Things', which won the Booker Prize in 1997. Her works often explore social and political issues such as class, race, and gender. more

You May Also Like

“It's OK just to be a writer, who writes about the society in which he lives and the issues that most important. Now how can that not be a writer, it always was. It's just recently that writers have been reduced to these playthings of the market.”

Writing Has Beens Important Issues

Author:Arundhati Roy

“Sometimes the state and the constitution are more enlightened than society.”

Sometimes States Constitution Enlightened

Author:Arundhati Roy

“I actually did a quick survey of how caste plays out in contemporary India. The idea that democracy and development have in some ways eroded caste turned out not to be the case, that it has in fact been entrenched and modernised.”

Way Ideas Play Facts Cases Democracy Development India Contemporary Surveys Castes

Author:Arundhati Roy

“In India, whichever language you write in, the possibility of people not understanding irony or not understanding [remains there]. This as a writer is most terrifying!”

People Writing Language Understanding Possibility India Remains Irony

Author:Arundhati Roy

“Most criminologists today will acknowledge that crime rates and incarceration rates in the United States have had relatively little to do with each other.”

Littles States Today United United States Crime Rate Acknowledge Incarceration Crime Rates

Author:Michelle Alexander

“Incarceration rates - especially black incarceration rates - have soared regardless of whether crime has been going up or down in any given community or the nation as a whole.”

Has Beens Whole Given Nations Black Community Crime Rate Incarceration

Author:Michelle Alexander

“I'm an activist; I have to be angry all the time. That's what we do!”

Author:Arundhati Roy

“Defenders of the status quo will often try to mislead the public by saying, "Just look at our state prisons: nearly half of the inmates are violent offenders. This system is about protecting the public from violent crime." This type of statement is highly misleading.”

Trying Looks States Half Crime Type Prison Violent Statements Status Quo Mislead Defenders Offenders Inmates Violent Crimes

Author:Michelle Alexander

“What defenders of the system typically fail to acknowledge is that the reason violent offenders comprise a fairly large percentage of the state prison population is because they typically receive longer sentences than non-violent offenders.”

States Reason Failing Prison Population Sentences Violent Acknowledge Percentages Defenders Offenders Non Violent Prison Population

Author:Michelle Alexander

“I think it's critically important for people to understand that this system of mass incarceration governs not just those who find themselves in prison on any given day, but also all those who are in jail, on probation or parole, as well as all those who are just months away from being locked up again because they are unable to find work or housing due to their criminal record.”

People Thinking Wells Important Given Records Months Mass Prison Dues Criminals Jail Locked Housing Locked Up Incarceration Parole Mass Incarceration Probation

Author:Michelle Alexander