But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there was a snuffling in the hollows at the base of a lovely throat. Only that a hard honey-colored shoulder had a semicircle of teeth marks on it. Only that they held each other close, long after it was over. Only that what they shared that night was not happiness, but hideous grief. Only that once again they broke the Love Laws. That lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much.

— Arundhati Roy

But when they made love he was offended by her eyes. They behaved as though they belonged to someone else. Someone watching. Looking out of the window at the sea. At a boat in the river. Or a passerby in the mist in

— Arundhati Roy

Capitalism is destroying the planet. The two old tricks that dug it out of past crises--War and Shopping--simply will not work.

— Arundhati Roy

Certainly no beast has essayed the boundless, infinitely inventive art of human hatred. No beast can match its range and power.

— Arundhati Roy

Cow, goat, chicken, lamb. . . Only slaves eat like this,’ Must said, heaping an impolite amount on to his plate. ‘Our stomachs are graveyards.

— Arundhati Roy

DB: There's a lot of talk about terrorism. In fact, it's become almost an obsession for the media in the United States. But it's a very narrow definition of terrorism.AR: Yes. It completely ignores the economic terrorism unleashed by neoliberalism, which devastates the lives of millions of people, depriving them of water, food, electricity. Denying them medicine. Denying them education. Terrorism is the logical extension of this business of the free market. Terrorism is the privatization of war. Terrorists are the free marketeers of war - people who believe that it isn't only the state that can wage war, but private parties as well. If you look at the logic underlying an act of terrorism and the logic underlying a retaliatory war against terrorism, they are the same. Both terrorists and governments make ordinary people pay for the actions of their governments. Osama bin Laden is making people pay for the actions of the US state, whether it's in Saudi Arabia, Palestine, or Afghanistan. The US government is making the people of Iraq pay for the actions of Saddam Hussein. The people of Afghanistan pay for the crimes of the Taliban. The logic is the same. Osama bin Laden and George Bush are both terrorists. They are both building international networks that perpetrate terror and devastate people's lives. Bush, with the Pentagon, the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank. Bin Laden with Al-Qaeda.

— Arundhati Roy

Do we need weapons to fight wars? Or do we need wars to create markets for weapons?

— Arundhati Roy

Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us.

— Arundhati Roy

Enemies can't break your spirit, only friends can.

— Arundhati Roy

Even in the most uneventful of our lives, we are called upon to choose our battles...

— Arundhati Roy