Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses – Unforgettable Quotes

A poet’s work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep. – Salman Rushdie

Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts. – Salman Rushdie

What is it about fame? I think it is very seductive, very glamorous and easy to get caught up in. – Salman Rushdie

We have become an appropriate target for the new religiosity, because we dared to laugh at the prophets and at God. – Salman Rushdie

Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit. – Salman Rushdie

Writing a book, just like building a library, is an act of sheer defiance. It is a declaration that our humanity is too important to be silenced or forgotten. – Salman Rushdie

The idea that somebody else is responsible for your life, that’s beyond absurdity. – Salman Rushdie

Not every book has the power to change lives, but some do. Not every life has the power to change history, but some can. – Salman Rushdie

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

The novel does not seek to establish a privileged language but it insists upon the freedom to portray and analyze the complexities of character and emotion. – Salman Rushdie

The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no? – Salman Rushdie

A people’s literature is the great textbook for real knowledge of them. – 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 incredible. – Salman Rushdie

Rage is the opposite of thought, reserve, and the clinched fist. – Salman Rushdie

Everyone has an opinion on what seems to be reality, and every opinion is subjective. But we have to agree on something. – Salman Rushdie

Freedom has no value if violence is its price. – Salman Rushdie

One must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world. – Salman Rushdie

Life is lived on levels and arrived at by stages. – Salman Rushdie

Fiction, and especially that sort of fiction which sets out to rend reality apart, is a form of eccentric anthropology – Salman Rushdie

Fundamentalism is amusing and frightening, backwards and forwards-looking, reactionary, and revolutionary. – Salman Rushdie

I am a writer; I am not programmed for happiness. – Salman Rushdie

The world is in a constant state of brokenness, but it’s up to us to try and mend it. – Salman Rushdie

The history of the world is the history of a duet between revelation and concealment. – Salman Rushdie

To be born again, first you have to die. – Salman Rushdie

The real violence is committed in the writing of history, the records of the legal system, the reporting of news, through the manipulation of social contracts, and the control of information. – Salman Rushdie

We all owe death a life. – Salman Rushdie

We remain defined by the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and we can only change those stories by changing their nature. – Salman Rushdie

To unlock your imagination, you must first unlock your mind. – Salman Rushdie

The trouble with the world is not the absence of alternatives, but the conviction that alternatives will not lead to a better future. – Salman Rushdie

The language of love is universal, but the language of hatred is learned. – Salman Rushdie

The only thing worth writing about is the human heart, in conflict with itself. – Salman Rushdie

Believe in yourself, for you are the only one who can create your own reality. – Salman Rushdie

History teaches us that the greatest heroes often arise from the unlikeliest of places. – Salman Rushdie

The difficulty of distinguishing truth from fiction is one of the greatest challenges of our time. But it is a challenge we must face if we are to find our way forward. – Salman Rushdie

Words have power, they can hurt, they can heal, they can comfort, they can destroy. We must choose our words wisely. – Salman Rushdie

It is the artist’s job to question everything, to challenge the norms, and to push the boundaries of what is possible. – Salman Rushdie

The greatest freedom we have is the freedom to imagine a better world. – Salman Rushdie

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page. – Salman Rushdie

In a world that is constantly changing, it is important to hold onto what is true and timeless. – Salman Rushdie

Truth is a matter of perspective, and it is up to each individual to find their own truth. – Salman Rushdie

The magic of literature lies in its ability to transport us to new worlds and challenge our preconceived notions. – Salman Rushdie

We are all stories in the end, so let’s make ours worth telling. – Salman Rushdie

The power of fiction is its ability to make the impossible seem possible. – Salman Rushdie

The greatest gift of art is its ability to make us feel less alone in the world. – Salman Rushdie

The world is full of contradictions, but it is up to us to find the truth beneath the surface. – Salman Rushdie

In a world that is often chaotic and uncertain, art can provide a sense of order and meaning. – Salman Rushdie

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. – Salman Rushdie

The power to change the world lies within each of us. It is up to us to embrace it and make a difference. – Salman Rushdie

Art is the language of the soul, and literature is its greatest expression. – Salman Rushdie

The beauty of literature is that it allows us to experience the world through the eyes of another. – Salman Rushdie