Each book, intuitively sensed and, in the case of fiction, intuitively worked out, stands on what has gone before, and grows out of it. I feel that at any stage of my literary career it could have been said that…

Quote by V S Naipaul

Topics: V S Naipaul Quotes

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...

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...

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...

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...

But everything of value about me is in my books.

But everything of value about me is in my books.

Argentine political life is like the life of an ant community or an African forest...

Argentine political life is like the life of an ant community or an African forest...

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.

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.

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...

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,...

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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.

I will say I am the sum of my books.

I will say I am the sum of my books.

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

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