---
title: "1 Writer Used Quotes By Michael Ondaatje"
description: "1 Writer Used quotes by Michael Ondaatje. Plus more from Michael Ondaatje and more Writer Used sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5c/michael-ondaatje-940_believe_read-him-slowly-dear-girl-you-must-read_978969.png"
---

> [Read him slowly, dear girl, you must read Kipling slowly. Watch carefully where the commas fall so you can discover the natural pauses. He is a writer who used pen and ink. He looked up from the page a lot,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/read-him-slowly-dear-girl-you-must-read-kipling-slowly-watch/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5c/michael-ondaatje-940_believe_read-him-slowly-dear-girl-you-must-read_978969.png)

## More by Michael Ondaatje

> [“In spite of this, our table's status on the Oronsay continued to be minimal, while those at the Captain's Table were constantly toasting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/in-spite-of-this-our-table-s-status-on-the-oronsay-continued-to-be/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [He will hear the rain before he feels it, a clicking on the dry grass, on the olive leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/he-will-hear-the-rain-before-he-feels-it-a-clicking-on-the-dry-grass/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would lean over and smell the skin at the base of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/whenever-her-father-was-alone-with-a-dog-in-a-house-he-would-lean/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“...those who had risked everything at a riverbend on a left turn and so discovered a fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/those-who-had-risked-everything-at-a-riverbend-on-a-left-turn-and-so/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“All over the world there must be people like us, Anna had said then, wounded in some way by falling in love - seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/all-over-the-world-there-must-be-people-like-us-anna-had-said-then/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power. Nothing much of lasting value ever happens at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/what-is-interesting-and-important-happens-mostly-in-secret-in-places/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [There's more danger in the violence you don't face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-s-more-danger-in-the-violence-you-don-t-face/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [From this point on, she whispered, we will either find or lose our souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/from-this-point-on-she-whispered-we-will-either-find-or-lose-our-souls/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“You know it is the most relaxed thing when you when you sit with a best friend and you know there is nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-know-it-is-the-most-relaxed-thing-when-you-when-you-sit-with-a/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“There was no control except the " mood of his power... and it is for this reason it is good you never heard him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-was-no-control-except-the-mood-of-his-power-and-it-is-for-this/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [You're getting everyone's point of view at the same time, which for me, is the perfect state for a novel: a cubist state, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-re-getting-everyone-s-point-of-view-at-the-same-time-which-for-me/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-see-the-poem-or-the-novel-ending-with-an-open-door/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“The Time Around Scars: A girl whom I've not spoken to or shared coffee with for several years writes of an old scar. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/the-time-around-scars-a-girl-whom-i-ve-not-spoken-to-or-shared-coffee/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

> [“- Daca ti-as incredinta viata mea, ai scapa-o pe jos. Nu-i asa?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/daca-ti-as-incredinta-viata-mea-ai-scapa-o-pe-jos-nu-i-asa/)

[Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/)

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                        "text": "Read him slowly, dear girl, you must read Kipling slowly. Watch carefully where the commas fall so you can discover the natural pauses. He is a writer who used pen and ink. He looked up from the page a lot, I believe, stared through his window and listened to birds, as most writers who are alone do. Some do not know the names of birds, though he did. Your eye is too quick and North American. Think about the speed of his pen. What an appalling, barnacled old first paragraph it is otherwise.",
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