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Quote by Mohsin Hamid

“I really do believe that people surprise you. And one of the powerful things about novels is that they're about characters, and those characters live their lives.”

Quote by Mohsin Hamid

Author

Mohsin Hamid is a Pakistani-British writer born in Karachi in 1971. His works often explore themes of globalization, identity, and modernity. Hamid's debut novel, 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist,' published in 2001, received widespread acclaim and earned him numerous awards. His other notable works include 'How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia' and 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'. more

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“I'm often surprised that, you know, you encounter all types of humanity. And very often, there are some very decent people who don't stereotype even when you might, in your own mind, have stereotyped them to think that they will.”

People Thinking Knows Mind Might Humanity Type Encounters Decent Stereotype

Author:Mohsin Hamid

“I think the beard helps offset - it's the only hairstyle I can really pull off. But I'm often clean-shaven. I think, you know, for me, it's not that signifier. What's interesting to me though is although the beard isn't a signifier of that to me, other people very often think that it is. And so people in America might react differently. The, you know, border agents might react differently. The guys at airport security might react differently.”

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Author:Mohsin Hamid

“A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in their own imagination because it's still me whether I'm bearded or not.”

Stills Imagination Seeing Mirrors Viewers Beard

Author:Mohsin Hamid

“In some contexts in Pakistan maybe a beard is negative. It depends. And in some contexts in America maybe a beard is positive. I think there's certainly lots of hipster communities where having a beard makes me look a little bit less like a, you know, middle-aged fuddy-duddy. And there's some places in Pakistan where having a beard, you know, certain corporate contexts, certain social contexts, where it's not an advantage to have a beard.”

Thinking Knows Looks Littles America Certain Social Bits Community Middle Depends Little Bit Advantage Negative Corporate Pakistan Beard Middle Aged Hipster

Author:Mohsin Hamid

“I want to be an icon.”

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“The anger is useful too because when things about the world upset you, that is really a fertile feeling to channel into fiction and to put out into books.”

World Book Feelings Fiction Upset Fertile

Author:Mohsin Hamid

“In a way, every parent is sort of dependent on the benevolence of the society around them to take care of their children.”

Way Children Care Parent Take Care Dependent Benevolence

Author:Mohsin Hamid

“I think that we live in a world - and this is something which living in Pakistan, perhaps, has taught me - and, you know, we live in a world where there is a constant feed from social media, the news, etc., of things that can scare us. And we become so anxious because human beings are meant - are designed to be sensitized to dangerous stuff.”

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Author:Mohsin Hamid

“You know, you get a bad review as a writer, you remember it for 10 years. You get a hundred good reviews, you forget them all. You say hello to a hundred people in the city and it doesn't mean anything to you. One racist comment passes by, and it sticks with you a decade.”

People Knows Years Mean Remember Forget Cities Hundred Sticks Decades Racist Reviews Comment Hello Bad Reviews

Author:Mohsin Hamid

“We keep the negative stuff because it's the negative stuff that's going to, you know, potentially kill us. That fin in the water - maybe it is a shark. That yellow thing behind the tree - maybe it is a lion. You need to be scared.”

Knows Needs Stuff Water Behinds Tree Negative Scared Lions Yellow Sharks Fins

Author:Mohsin Hamid