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97 Famous Salman Rushdie Quotes That We Can't Ignore

Famous As: Indian-born British-American Author Best Known for His Novel ‘The Satanic Verses’
Born On: June 19, 1947
Born In: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Age: 76 Years
Salman Rushdie is a renowned British Indian novelist and essayist, known as the most controversial novelist of the 20th century. He was born in Bombay, British India, in a wealthy family and pursued his graduation from the University of Cambridge. He debuted in his writing career with ‘Grimus’ which was a great blend of fantasy and science fiction but was not successful. He hit back the literary world with his next book titled ‘Midnight's Children’ which was very successful. In this book he portrayed the history of India from the perspective of a laborer. This book was honored with some of the most renowned awards including the ‘Booker Prize’ and the ‘James Tait Black Memorial Prize’. He further published ‘The Satanic Verses’ which continues to be the most controversial book of his career and it also brought him various accolades including the ‘Whitbread Book Award’. The book was condemned for blasphemy against Islam and a bounty was announced for his head by the Islamic leader of Iran. These controversies could not stop him from writing and expressing his thoughts through his books and novels. He successfully published his works to justify his reputation as a writer. Salman Rushdie is quite often in the news for his radical views; he also shares his views on several political, social, religious and literary issues. We have compiled his quotes from his novels, writings, speeches, interviews and his general life. Take a look at the quotes and thoughts by Salman Rushdie who has a completely different take on religion and world.
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Language is courage: the ability to conceive a thought, to speak it, and by doing so to make it true.

Language is courage: the ability to conceive a thought, to speak it, and by doing so to make it true.

Salman Rushdie
What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

Salman Rushdie
From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.

From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.

Salman Rushdie
Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what.

Now I know what a ghost is. Unfinished business, that's what.

Salman Rushdie
A poet's work . . . to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.

A poet's work . . . to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.

Salman Rushdie
A photograph is a moral decision taken in one eighth of a second.

A photograph is a moral decision taken in one eighth of a second.

Salman Rushdie
To understand just one life you have to swallow the world ... do you wonder, then, that I was a heavy child?

To understand just one life you have to swallow the world ... do you wonder, then, that I was a heavy child?

Salman Rushdie
Free societies...are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom's existence.

Free societies...are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom's existence.

Salman Rushdie
We all owe death a life.

We all owe death a life.

Salman Rushdie
The only people who see the whole picture,' he murmured, 'are the ones who step out of the frame.

The only people who see the whole picture,' he murmured, 'are the ones who step out of the frame.

Salman Rushdie
Faith without doubt is addiction

Faith without doubt is addiction

Salman Rushdie
How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized.

How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized.

Salman Rushdie
What's real and what's true aren't necessarily the same.

What's real and what's true aren't necessarily the same.

Salman Rushdie
Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence.

Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence.

Salman Rushdie
Realism can break a writer's heart.

Realism can break a writer's heart.

Salman Rushdie
Masks beneath masks until suddenly the bare bloodless skull.

Masks beneath masks until suddenly the bare bloodless skull.

Salman Rushdie
The world, somebody wrote, is the place we prove real by dying in it.

The world, somebody wrote, is the place we prove real by dying in it.

Salman Rushdie
‎No people whose word for 'yesterday' is the same as their word for 'tomorrow' can be said to have a firm grip on the time.

‎No people whose word for 'yesterday' is the same as their word for 'tomorrow' can be said to have a firm grip on the time.

Salman Rushdie
Perhaps the story you finish is never the one you begin.

Perhaps the story you finish is never the one you begin.

Salman Rushdie
So India’s problem turns out to be the world’s problem. What happened in India has happened in God’s name.

The problem’s name is God.

So India’s problem turns out to be the world’s problem. What happened in India has happened in God’s name. The problem’s name is God.

Salman Rushdie
What can't be cured must be endured.

What can't be cured must be endured.

Salman Rushdie
We were language's magpies by nature, stealing whatever sounded bright and shiny.

We were language's magpies by nature, stealing whatever sounded bright and shiny.

Salman Rushdie
Children are the vessels into which adults pour their poison.

Children are the vessels into which adults pour their poison.

Salman Rushdie
You can't judge an internal injury by the size of the hole.

You can't judge an internal injury by the size of the hole.

Salman Rushdie
Something was badly amiss with the spiritual life of the planet...Too many demons inside people claiming to believe in God.

Something was badly amiss with the spiritual life of the planet...Too many demons inside people claiming to believe in God.

Salman Rushdie
Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.

Books choose their authors; the act of creation is not entirely a rational and conscious one.

Salman Rushdie
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.

Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.

Salman Rushdie
A sigh isn't just a sigh. We inhale the world and breathe out meaning. While we can. While we can.

A sigh isn't just a sigh. We inhale the world and breathe out meaning. While we can. While we can.

Salman Rushdie
To understand just one life, you have to swallow the world.

To understand just one life, you have to swallow the world.

Salman Rushdie
Not all possibilities are open to us. The world is finite; our hopes spill over its rim.

Not all possibilities are open to us. The world is finite; our hopes spill over its rim.

Salman Rushdie