"You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality."
"English, as a subject, never really got over its upstart nature. It tries to bulk itself up with hopeless jargon and specious complexity, tries to imitate subjects it can never be."
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Source: Zadie Smith (2003). “White Teeth”, p.272, Vintage
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"As far as I'm concerned, if you want to find out about the last day of WWII or the roots of the Indian Mutiny, get thee to a books catalogue."
"The past is always tense, the future perfect."
"Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you."
"Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories."
"Don’t romanticise your ‘vocation’. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle’. All that matters is what you leave on the page."