Mohsin Hamid

“A little paranoia crawls into my lap, purring loudly.”

— Mohsin Hamid

I don't know if I'm truly at home in any language.

— Mohsin Hamid

Novels are make-believe and play for adults.

— Mohsin Hamid

When I travel, I feel more like a nomad than a tourist.

— Mohsin Hamid

Literature helps us transcend ourselves.

— Mohsin Hamid

Being a writer is not the point. Writing is.

— Mohsin Hamid

I felt suddenly very young - or perhaps I felt my age.

— Mohsin Hamid

“Glaring is something we men of Lahore take seriously...”

— Mohsin Hamid

Pakistan hasn't been cast in the role of... interesting cultural place or, you know, land of great comedians.

— Mohsin Hamid

Time only moves in one direction. Remember that. Things always change.

— Mohsin Hamid

“You know you’re in trouble when you can’t meet a woman’s eye.”

— Mohsin Hamid

I was, in my own eyes, a veritable James Bond — only younger, darker, and possibly better paid.

— Mohsin Hamid

If we want things to be okay, we will have to make things okay.

— Mohsin Hamid

“He whispers a benediction and breathes it into the air, spreading his hope for you with a contraction of the lungs.”

— Mohsin Hamid

We are each of us composed of atoms, but equally, we are composed by time.

— Mohsin Hamid

Novels function and the power of novels function because of their stories.

— Mohsin Hamid

“.., but I would suggest that it is instead our solitude that most disturb us, the fact that we are all but…

— Mohsin Hamid

“[...] I stated to them among other things that no country inflicts death so readily upon the inhabitants of other countries, frightens…

— Mohsin Hamid

Chance plays a powerful role in every life - our brains and personalities are just chemical soup, after all; a few drops…

— Mohsin Hamid

Stories helped me unite parts of my existence that might otherwise have seemed irrevocably split by geography and time. And stories helped…

— Mohsin Hamid

Nothing good gets written without the writer suffering along the way, in my opinion. Writing should be a pleasure, but unless you…

— Mohsin Hamid

The mobile phone is very dangerous. If you're walking and looking at your phone, you're not walking - you're surfing the internet.

— Mohsin Hamid

The four places I've called home in my life have been Lahore, London, New York and California. And I have a very…

— Mohsin Hamid

I don't want to be a Michael Moore-style artist, which is not to disparage Michael Moore. But he seems rather unsuccessful at…

— Mohsin Hamid

My grandparents used to pray five times a day, but they were quiet about their own thing. Completely liberal day by day;…

— Mohsin Hamid

In Sufi terms, there are two very interesting notions of transcendence. One is to gaze out at the universe and to comprehend…

— Mohsin Hamid

I feel engaged with young people in Pakistan. But that said, it's still a small minority that reads novels, literary fiction. But…

— Mohsin Hamid

The mountain trembled like an earthquake. Dust flew into the sky. And the rock turned dark red, like the color of blood'.…

— Mohsin Hamid

When I'm really plugged in I find it difficult to write. It's like digging a well. If you make a void, something…

— Mohsin Hamid

Part of the reason people abroad resent the United States is something Americans can do very little about: envy. The richest, most…

— Mohsin Hamid

Americans need to educate themselves, from elementary school onward, about what their country has done abroad. And they need to play a…

— Mohsin Hamid

The animosity between India and Pakistan is deeply unfortunate and dangerous, and it's something I've long campaigned to reduce. But right now,…

— Mohsin Hamid

“They stood and pulled off their robes, facing each other, and underneath both were wearing jeans and sweaters, there being a nip…

— Mohsin Hamid

“I was saddened to find it in such a state- no, no more than saddened, I was shamed. This was where I…

— Mohsin Hamid

If you have ever, sir, been through a breakup of a romantic relationship that involved great love, you will perhaps understand what…

— Mohsin Hamid

“It is the first visit in many years for your son, finally a citizen of his new country and free to travel,…

— Mohsin Hamid

“When he prayed he touched his parents, who could not otherwise be touched, and he touched a feeling that we are all…

— Mohsin Hamid

“Now, though, in Marin, Saeed prayed even more, several times a day, and he prayed fundamentally as a gesture of love for…

— Mohsin Hamid

In a world of intrusive technology, we must engage in a kind of struggle if we wish to sustain moments of solitude.…

— Mohsin Hamid

“Getting an education is a running leap towards becoming filthy rich in Asia. This is no secret. But like many desirable things,…

— Mohsin Hamid