“My identity is deeply intertwined with being a refugee because that's the first experience that I remember.” Quote by Nguyen Viet Thang
“When I was growing up, I cared very little for the customs of my parents, the special things that we're supposed to do as Vietnamese people. But now that I am a parent, I go out of my way to make sure that my son goes to visit his grandparents and participates in customs like the Lunar New Year celebration.” PeopleWayYearsLittlesParentGrowing UpGrowingSpecialSonMy WayMy SonCustomsCelebrationNew YearGrandparentVietnameseSpecial Things Author:Nguyen Viet Thang
“I think that people are going to move. They always have and that's going to continue. The question is, how are we going to deal with it?” PeopleThinkingMovingDeals Author:Mohsin Hamid
“I think wars, climate change, all that stuff is going to move people. And so I wanted to say, "What if the migration apocalypse occurs and it isn't an apocalypse at all?" Maybe we will still find ways to be happy and for our children and grandchildren to thrive and the world to move on.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWayChildrenStillsWarWantedMovingStuffOur ChildrenClimateClimate ChangeThriveWhat IfApocalypseGrandchildrenMigrationChildren And Grandchildren Author:Mohsin Hamid
“The paralysis that we have right now when we think about migration is partly because we can't imagine what the world would look like in the future. So I think it's important for writers and artists to try to imagine that.” ThinkingWorldTryingLooksImportantArtistImagineRight NowImagine ThatMigrationParalysis Author:Mohsin Hamid
“I think that right now, the global political crisis that we see all over the place has to do with virulent nostalgia. Everywhere, people are talking about taking us back to the good old days. Whether that's the "caliphate," or Britain before the EU, or "Make America Great Again." But, we can't go back and many people wouldn't want to go back even if we could.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantAmericaPoliticalTalkingRight NowCrisisNostalgiaBritainOld DaysGood Old Days Author:Mohsin Hamid
“If the dominant political expression that we're seeing right now is of nostalgia and we know that nostalgia won't really work out, what happens is, we become depressed as individuals and societies - when we're depressed, we're much more vulnerable to be taken advantage of by demagogues and xenophobes.” IfsKnowsHappensPoliticalIndividualTakenSeeingExpressionRight NowAdvantageWork OutNostalgiaVulnerableDominantTaken AdvantageIndividuals And Society Author:Mohsin Hamid
“It's important to have a non-nostalgic view and say, let's look forward, because if we don't, all we'll hear are voices telling us to go back.” IfsLooksImportantVoiceViewsNostalgic Author:Mohsin Hamid
“Artists are in the imagining/ prototyping business. Society needs people to be out there thinking of what might be. That cannot be something we just delegate to politicians or technologists.” PeopleThinkingNeedsMightArtistPoliticianDelegates Author:Mohsin Hamid
“We need to start imagining the future or it will get imagined for us, and the ways that it has been imagined thus far don't seem very attractive.” WayNeedsHas BeensSeemsAttractiveImagining The Future Author:Mohsin Hamid
“I would have bet money that Britain would not vote to leave the EU, and I would have been wrong. I would have bet money that Trump would not have been the Republican nominee, and I would have been wrong and I certainly would have bet money that he wouldn't win the election.” Has BeensWinningTrumpRepublicanVoteElectionBritain Author:Mohsin Hamid