The White Tiger Quotes
"Neither you nor I speak English, but there are some things that can only be said in English."
"Only three nations have never let themselves be ruled by foreigners: China, Afghanistan, and Abyssinia. These are the only three nations I admire."
"A thinking man sees his own actions as experiments and questions—as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all."
"The story of my upbringing is the story of how a half-baked fellow is produced."
"Entrepreneurs are made from half-baked clay."
"There's no reward for entrepreneurship in most of India."
"In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies."
"There are twenty, twenty-five pages of job advertisements in the newspaper every week."
"They expect it from us, they respect us for it."
"Is there any hatred on earth like the hatred of the number two servant for the number one?"
"Free people don't know the value of freedom, that's the problem."
"If you were back in Laxmangarh, we would have called you the Lamb."
"If only a man could spit his past out so easily."
"Getting out was as tricky as getting in, but again the guards didn't say a word to me."
"There's always a way out here. This is India, not America."
"Every now and then an egg will crack open—a woman’s hand, dazzling with gold bangles, stretches out an open window, flings an empty mineral water bottle onto the road—and then the window goes up, and the egg is resealed."
"Brush. Brush. Spit. If only a man could spit his past out so easily."
"It's when your driver starts to read about Gandhi and the Buddha that it's time to wet your pants."
"Employers are like mother and father. How can one be angry with them?"
"We are made mysteries to ourselves by the Rooster Coop we are locked in."
"The more I stole from him, the more I realized how much he had stolen from me."
"The very same thing is done with human beings in this country."
"Never before in human history have so few owed so much to so many."
"The trustworthiness of servants is the basis of the entire Indian economy."
"The rich dream of losing weight and looking like the poor."
"Elections, my friend, can be managed in India. It's not like in America."
"I sighed, because this one looked nothing like Kim Basinger. Not half as pretty."
"The rich always get the best things in life, and all that we get is their leftovers."
"That’s what would happen to me after twenty minutes."
"She gave me a big smile—I knew it well: it was the smile a servant gives a master."
""That’s right. But it’s my name," I said. "My family gave me no other name."
""You’re not a bad-looking fellow—and you’re quite sweet," and then ran her finger through my hair."
""Sir, do you want me to take you somewhere in the City?""
""My way of living is all wrong, Balram. I know it, but I don’t have the courage to change it."
""This food is fantastic. And just twenty-five rupees! You people eat so well!""
""The diseases of the poor can never get treated."
""It’s the twenty-first century, Balram. Anything can be treated."
""No, sir. The diseases of the poor can never get treated. My father had TB and it killed him."
""Remember, ask for the bag back each time. It’s a good bag, Italian-made."
""You live in such a hole, Balram. I never knew. I’m sorry."
""I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry." I asked, "Sorry for what?" And he said, "I can’t live the rest of my life in a cage, Granny."
""Why the hell did you give that beggar a rupee? What cheek! Turn the music off."
""You want to get married." "…" "Balram. You’ll need some money, won’t you?""
""I’ll give you some money, Balram. You go into some better housing tomorrow, okay?"
""He said you were at the temple, offering prayers for my health."
""The very fact that Mr. Ashok threatens your family makes your blood boil!"