The biography of a writer - or even the autobiography - will always have this incompleteness.

Quote by V S Naipaul

Topics: V S Naipaul Quotes

I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had...

I came to London. It had become the center of my world and I had...

What was past was past. I suppose that was the general attitude.

What was past was past. I suppose that was the general attitude.

I will say I am the sum of my books.

I will say I am the sum of my books.

It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew,...

It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew,...

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world...

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world...

All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid...

All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid...

It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew,...

It was a good place for getting lost in, a city no one ever knew,...

I have trusted to my intuition to find the subjects, and I have written intuitively....

I have trusted to my intuition to find the subjects, and I have written intuitively....

Whatever extra there is in me at any given moment isn't fully formed. I am...

Whatever extra there is in me at any given moment isn't fully formed. I am...

This is unusual for me. I have given readings and not lectures. I have told...

This is unusual for me. I have given readings and not lectures. I have told...

The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become...

The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become...

The world outside existed in a kind of darkness; and we inquired about nothing.

The world outside existed in a kind of darkness; and we inquired about nothing.

That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is...

That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is...

I'm the kind of writer that people think other people are reading.

I'm the kind of writer that people think other people are reading.

In Trinidad, where as new arrivals we were a disadvantaged community, that excluding idea was...

In Trinidad, where as new arrivals we were a disadvantaged community, that excluding idea was...

Each book, intuitively sensed and, in the case of fiction, intuitively worked out, stands on...

Each book, intuitively sensed and, in the case of fiction, intuitively worked out, stands on...

As a child I knew almost nothing, nothing beyond what I had picked up in...

As a child I knew almost nothing, nothing beyond what I had picked up in...

We made no inquiries about India or about the families people had left behind. When...

We made no inquiries about India or about the families people had left behind. When...

The reason is that they define how I have gone about my business. I have...

The reason is that they define how I have gone about my business. I have...

I am the kind of writer that people think other people are reading.

I am the kind of writer that people think other people are reading.