“ Shortly before the monsoon, the heat becomes very intense. It is said that the more intense it becomes the more abundantly it will draw down the rains, so one wants it to be as hot as can be. And by t… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ Olivia was by no means a snob but she aesthetic and the details Mrs. Saunders gave about her illness were not; also Mrs. Saunders' accent--how could one help noticing with her droning on and on?--was… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ It is strange how, once graves are broken and overgrown in this way, then the people in them are truly dead. The Indian Christian graves at the front of the cemetery, which are still kept up by relati… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ The others, however, told their anecdotes with no moral comment whatsoever, even though they had to recount some hair-raising events. And not only did they keep completely cool, but they even had that… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ You have to believe me without proof. That's what faith is — believing without proof.' They got up from the bank of stones. It was getting late, the shadows lay cool and lengthened on the grass and th… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ The girl was particularly indignant --not only about this watchman but about all the other people all over India. She said they were all dirty and dishonest. She had a very pretty, open, English face… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ I'm not interested in who am I. I'm interested in what's gone, the disinheritance, what I've been able to become or learn or fuse with or not fuse with. A certain freedom comes... I like it that way. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ When Indians sleep, they really do sleep. Neither adults nor children have a regular bed-time -- when they're tired they just drop, fully clothed, on to their beds, or the ground if they have no beds,… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ First, I was so dazzled and besotted by India. People said the poverty was biblical, and I'm afraid that was my attitude, too. It's terribly easy to get used to someone else's poverty if you're living… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ Olivia understood that actually they would be happier without her, doing matronly things and being comfortable with each other. But they were speaking for sake. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ She explains that often the people who mean the most to us have to be left behind because they cannot follow us along our destined path. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ The world is always the same. Always beautiful: why should we let our delight in it die? The answer to this problem lies in education. If we teach our children to love everything about them - the sky,… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ When I think of all our gifts, all our riches - the sky the sea, the sea, the mountains and the sun - everything is there for us to seize and enjoy, and still people sit in their little corners and mo… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ The rest of the time Olivia was alone in her big house with all the doors and windows shut to keep out the heat and dust. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ The landscape which, a few weeks earlier, had been blotted out by dust was now hazy with moisture. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
“ Although the Major was so sympathetic to India, his piece sounds like a warning. He said that one has to be very determined to withstand--to stand up to--India. And the most vulnerable, he said, are a… Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
