"The past becomes a texture, an ambience to our present."
"Imagination is not enough. Knowledge is necessary."
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Source: Paul Scott (1986). “My appointment with the muse: essays, 1961-75”, Heinemann Educational Books
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"In India nearly everybody spoke metaphorically except the English who spoke bluntly and could make their most transparent lies look honest as a consequence; whereas any truth contained in these metaphorical rigmaroles was so deviously presented that it looked devious itself."
"Ah, well, the truth is always one thing, but in a way it's the other thing, the gossip, that counts. It shows where people's hearts lie."
"English is the language of a people ho have probably earned their reputation for perfidy and hypocrisy because their language itself is so flexible, so often light-headed with with statements which appear to mean one thing one year and quite a different thing the next."
"Rumours began with the whispered gossip of native servants and spread quickly to the rest of the population."