We made no inquiries about India or about the families people had left behind. When our ways of thinking had changed, and we wished to know, it was too late. I know nothing of the people on my father's side;…

Quote by V S Naipaul

Topics: V S Naipaul Quotes

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.

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...

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 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...

The world is always in movement.

The world is always in movement.

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

I will say I am the sum of my books.

I will say I am the sum of my books.

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.

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...

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...

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,...

But everything of value about me is in my books.

But everything of value about me is in my books.

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....

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

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

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...