The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas - uncertainty, progress, change - into crimes.

Quote by Salman Rushdie

Topics: Salman Rushdie Quotes

It is very, very easy not to be offended by a book. You just have...

It is very, very easy not to be offended by a book. You just have...

I hate admitting that my enemies have a point.

I hate admitting that my enemies have a point.

In this world without quiet corners, there can be no easy escapes from history, from...

In this world without quiet corners, there can be no easy escapes from history, from...

Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts.

Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts.

When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy.

When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy.

A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides,...

A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides,...

Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.

Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.

The acceptance that all that is solid has melted into the air, that reality and...

The acceptance that all that is solid has melted into the air, that reality and...

Our lives are not what we deserve; they are, let us agree, in many ways...

Our lives are not what we deserve; they are, let us agree, in many ways...

Doubt, it seems to me, is the central condition of a human being in the...

Doubt, it seems to me, is the central condition of a human being in the...

If Woody Allen were a Muslim, he'd be dead by now.

If Woody Allen were a Muslim, he'd be dead by now.

Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.

Vertigo is the conflict between the fear of falling and the desire to fall.

Rock and roll music - the music of freedom frightens people and unleashes all manner...

Rock and roll music - the music of freedom frightens people and unleashes all manner...

Be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to...

Be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to...

Our lives teach us who we are.

Our lives teach us who we are.

Writers and politicians are natural rivals. Both groups try to make the world in their...

Writers and politicians are natural rivals. Both groups try to make the world in their...

Such is the miraculous nature of the future of exiles: what is first uttered in...

Such is the miraculous nature of the future of exiles: what is first uttered in...

Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence.

Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence.

Throughout human history, the apostles of purity, those who have claimed to possess a total...

Throughout human history, the apostles of purity, those who have claimed to possess a total...

One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable.

One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable.