---
title: "2 Outside world Quotes By V.S. Naipaul"
description: "2 Outside world quotes by V.S. Naipaul. Plus more from V.S. Naipaul and more Outside world sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_history_to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-liv_1740597.jpg"
---

> [“To awaken to history was to cease to live instinctively. It was to begin to see oneself and one’s group the way the outside world saw one; and it was to know a kind of rage. India was now full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-live-instinctively-it-was-to/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_history_to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-liv_1740597.jpg)

> [“We have no means of understanding a fraction of the thought and science and philosophy and law that have gone to make that outside world. We simply accept it. We have grown up paying tribute to it, and that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/we-have-no-means-of-understanding-a-fraction-of-the-thought-and/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_outside-world_we-have-no-means-of-understanding-a-frac_2195618.jpg)

## Other authors on Outside world

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-chuck-palahniuk-24118.jpg) Chuck Palahniuk 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/chuck-palahniuk/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-erich-fromm-33632.jpg) Erich Fromm 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/erich-fromm/)
- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-david-foster-wallace-27461.jpg) David Foster Wallace 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/david-foster-wallace/)

## More by V.S. Naipaul

> [“In his original design the solicitor's clerk seemed to have forgotten the need for a staircase to link both the floors, and what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/in-his-original-design-the-solicitor-s-clerk-seemed-to-have-forgotten/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“What matters in the end in literature, what is always there, is the truly good. And -- though played out forms can throw up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/what-matters-in-the-end-in-literature-what-is-always-there-is-the/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“Though no one recognized his strength, Anand was among the strong. His satirical sense kept him aloof. At first this was only a pose,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/though-no-one-recognized-his-strength-anand-was-among-the-strong-his/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“It was as Nazruddin had said, when I asked him about visas and he had said that bank notes were better. 'You can always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/it-was-as-nazruddin-had-said-when-i-asked-him-about-visas-and-he-had/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“attributed the decay of Hindu society in Trinidad to the rise of the timorous, weak, non-beating class of husband.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/attributed-the-decay-of-hindu-society-in-trinidad-to-the-rise-of-the/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“It was not long after that Ganesh saw a big new notice in the shop, painted on cardboard. ‘Is Leela self who write that,’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/it-was-not-long-after-that-ganesh-saw-a-big-new-notice-in-the-shop/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“I knew there was something that separated me from Ferdinand and the life of the bush about me. And it was because I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/i-knew-there-was-something-that-separated-me-from-ferdinand-and-the/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“In my late thirties the dream of disappointment and exhaustion had been the dream of the exploding head: the dream of a noise in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/in-my-late-thirties-the-dream-of-disappointment-and-exhaustion-had/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“On the front cover of Newsweek reviews "A House for Mr. Biswas" as "a marvelous prose epic that matches the best 19th century novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/on-the-front-cover-of-newsweek-reviews-a-house-for-mr-biswas-as-a/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“For when one thinks of Guiana one thinks of a country whose inadequate resources are strained in every way, a country whose geography imposes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/for-when-one-thinks-of-guiana-one-thinks-of-a-country-whose/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“Ah, sahib. I know you just come to comfort a old man left to live by hisself. Soomintra say I too old-fashion. And Leela,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/ah-sahib-i-know-you-just-come-to-comfort-a-old-man-left-to-live-by/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“Misir’s first story was about a man who had been out of work for months and was starving. His five children were starving; his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/misir-s-first-story-was-about-a-man-who-had-been-out-of-work-for/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“I had seen how deep in nearly every West Indian, high and low, were the prejudices of race; how often these prejudices were rooted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/i-had-seen-how-deep-in-nearly-every-west-indian-high-and-low-were-the/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“It was in that garage that Alec worked, no longer wearing red bodices or peeing blue, but doing mysterious greasy things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/it-was-in-that-garage-that-alec-worked-no-longer-wearing-red-bodices/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

> [“What Raja Ram Mohun Roy began as a reform movment early in the 19th century Devendranath Tagore made into a religion. It transformed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/what-raja-ram-mohun-roy-began-as-a-reform-movment-early-in-the-19th/)

[V.S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul-2/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Outside world Quotes By V.S. Naipaul",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“To awaken to history was to cease to live instinctively. It was to begin to see oneself and one’s group the way the outside world saw one; and it was to know a kind of rage. India was now full of this rage. There had been a general awakening. But everyone awakened first to his own group or community; every group thought itself unique in its awakening; and every group sought to separate its rage from the rage of other groups.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "V.S. Naipaul"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-live-instinctively-it-was-to/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_history_to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-liv_1740597.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_history_to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-liv_1740597.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_history_to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-liv_1740597.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“To awaken to history was to cease to live instinctively. It was to begin to see oneself and one’s group the…” — V.S. Naipaul",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“We have no means of understanding a fraction of the thought and science and philosophy and law that have gone to make that outside world. We simply accept it. We have grown up paying tribute to it, and that is all the most of us can do. We feel of the great world that it is simply there, something for the lucky ones to explore, and then only at the edges. It never occurs to us that we might make some contribution to it ourselves. And that is why we miss everything.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "V.S. Naipaul"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul-2/we-have-no-means-of-understanding-a-fraction-of-the-thought-and/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_outside-world_we-have-no-means-of-understanding-a-frac_2195618.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_outside-world_we-have-no-means-of-understanding-a-frac_2195618.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31f/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_outside-world_we-have-no-means-of-understanding-a-frac_2195618.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“We have no means of understanding a fraction of the thought and science and philosophy and law that have…” — V.S. Naipaul",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/",
            "name": "Outside world Quotes by V.S. Naipaul",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa5/v-s-naipaul-2-16418_history_to-awaken-to-history-was-to-cease-to-liv_1740597.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Outside world quotes by V.S. Naipaul. Plus more from V.S. Naipaul and more Outside world sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Outside World",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "V.S. Naipaul",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outside-world/v-s-naipaul-2/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
