--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: London had grown unstable once again…" description: "\"“London had grown unstable once again, revealing its true, capricious, tormented nature, its anguish of a city that had lost its sense of itself and wa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg" --- # London had grown unstable once again, revealing its true… ![“London had grown unstable once again, revealing its true, capricious, tormented nature, its anguish of a city that had lost its sense of itself and wallowed, accordingly, in the impotence of its selfish, angry present of masks and parodies, stifled and twisted by the insupportable, unrejected…” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg) > ““London had grown unstable once again, revealing its true, capricious, tormented nature, its anguish of a city that had lost its sense of itself and wallowed, accordingly, in the impotence of its selfish, angry present of masks and parodies, stifled and twisted by the insupportable, unrejected burden of its past, staring into the bleakness of its impoverished future.”” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city’s turmoil reflects a chaotic history and uncertain future, exposing its fragmented identity and collective suffering. **In simple terms:** City chaos shows broken identity and bleak future. Key Takeaway Recognize history’s impact on present. Themes history identity urban decay Mood somber critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - urban planning - cultural preservation Key Concepts collective trauma social unrest Questions to Reflect On - How does history shape a city’s present? - What can restore its sense of self? A Different Perspective Complex issues cannot be solved quickly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bleakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleakness/) [Bleakness Impoverished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleakness-impoverished-4971080/) [City Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/city-lost-1539663/) [London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/london/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Staring Bleakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring-bleakness-4971081/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tormented Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tormented-nature-4971082/) ## Related quotes > [“The truth is this. It isn’t about winning anymore. It hasn't been about winning for a long time. It's about surviving." “There were no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-o-keeffe/the-truth-is-this-it-isn-t-about-winning-anymore-it-hasn-t-been-about/) [Brendan O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-o-keeffe/) > [L.A. is a great city to get lost in. The best thing to do is to drive in any direction, find a strip mall,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-garcetti/l-a-is-a-great-city-to-get-lost-in-the-best-thing-to-do-is-to-drive/) [Eric Garcetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-garcetti/) > [There was a precarious balance during those crucial months between composition and decomposition - what the world gained and what a great city lost.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-maraniss/there-was-a-precarious-balance-during-those-crucial-months-between/) [David Maraniss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-maraniss/) > [I had a dream of music and art and the big city in which I would get lost, where no one would know me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ori-gersht/i-had-a-dream-of-music-and-art-and-the-big-city-in-which-i-would-get/) [Ori Gersht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ori-gersht/) > [“The grey city and its lost hearts force its way between myself and my healing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/the-grey-city-and-its-lost-hearts-force-its-way-between-myself-and-my/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [When I was 33 years old, I ran for United States Congress in New York City. I lost miserably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reshma-saujani/when-i-was-33-years-old-i-ran-for-united-states-congress-in-new-york/) [Reshma Saujani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reshma-saujani/) > [In my dreams of this city I am always lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/in-my-dreams-of-this-city-i-am-always-lost/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Slowly, his eyes came up and he looked through the kitchen window and out through the Cahuenga Pass. The lights of Hollywood glimmered in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/slowly-his-eyes-came-up-and-he-looked-through-the-kitchen-window-and/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [Tourism does not go to a city that has lost its soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-frommer/tourism-does-not-go-to-a-city-that-has-lost-its-soul/) [Arthur Frommer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-frommer/) > [The church and the whorehouse arrived in the Far West simultaneously. And each would have been horrified to think it was a different facet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-church-and-the-whorehouse-arrived-in-the-far-west-simultaneously/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/you-know-my-friends-there-comes-a-time-when-people-get-tired-of-being/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The mix in our rooms is so touching: the clutter and the cracks in the wall belie a bleakness or brokenness in our lives;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-mix-in-our-rooms-is-so-touching-the-clutter-and-the-cracks-in-the/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Everything's complicated, even those things that seem flat in their bleakness or sadness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/everything-s-complicated-even-those-things-that-seem-flat-in-their/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [We are children of chaos, and the deep structure of change is decay. At root, there is only corruption, and the unstemmable tide of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-atkins/we-are-children-of-chaos-and-the-deep-structure-of-change-is-decay-at/) [Peter Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-atkins/) > [I also have just my own limits about stuff. I'm not interested in writing graphically about sexual assault for example. I feel like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-also-have-just-my-own-limits-about-stuff-i-m-not-interested-in/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Después de exigir mi marcha, ya no posees jurisdicción en lo concerniente a mi salud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/despu-s-de-exigir-mi-marcha-ya-no-posees-jurisdicci-n-en-lo/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-there-is-a-choice-between-absolute-safety-and-freedom-then-freedom/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Bleakness quotes > [I also have just my own limits about stuff. I'm not interested in writing graphically about sexual assault for example. I feel like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/i-also-have-just-my-own-limits-about-stuff-i-m-not-interested-in/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [We are children of chaos, and the deep structure of change is decay. At root, there is only corruption, and the unstemmable tide of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-atkins/we-are-children-of-chaos-and-the-deep-structure-of-change-is-decay-at/) [Peter Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-atkins/) > [Everything's complicated, even those things that seem flat in their bleakness or sadness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/everything-s-complicated-even-those-things-that-seem-flat-in-their/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [The mix in our rooms is so touching: the clutter and the cracks in the wall belie a bleakness or brokenness in our lives;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/the-mix-in-our-rooms-is-so-touching-the-clutter-and-the-cracks-in-the/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression. There comes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/you-know-my-friends-there-comes-a-time-when-people-get-tired-of-being/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The church and the whorehouse arrived in the Far West simultaneously. And each would have been horrified to think it was a different facet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-church-and-the-whorehouse-arrived-in-the-far-west-simultaneously/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-tend-to-foster-drama-via-bleakness-if-i-want-the-reader-to-feel/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [ I'm really impotent against the overwhelming bleakness of the universe and the only thing I can do is my little gift \[filmmaking\] and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/i-m-really-impotent-against-the-overwhelming-bleakness-of-the/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [“Death appears as the harsh victory of the law of our ancestors of the dimension of our becoming. It is a fact that, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frere-dupont/death-appears-as-the-harsh-victory-of-the-law-of-our-ancestors-of-the/) [Frere Dupont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frere-dupont/) > [Each of us is alone in the world. It takes great courage to meet the full force of your aloneness. Â… When you face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-donohue/each-of-us-is-alone-in-the-world-it-takes-great-courage-to-meet-the/) [John O'Donohue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-donohue/) > [“Her voice had become sharp with overtones of bleakness as her soul congealed and she ceased to move, as the instinctive, omnipresent film of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/her-voice-had-become-sharp-with-overtones-of-bleakness-as-her-soul/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The average cooking in the average hotel for the average Englishman explains to a large extent the English bleakness and taciturnity. Nobody can beam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/the-average-cooking-in-the-average-hotel-for-the-average-englishman/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [under our love making I felt a bleakness that couldnt be dispelled. The sadness was in both of us, and I think we pitied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/under-our-love-making-i-felt-a-bleakness-that-couldnt-be-dispelled/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [“the bleakest situations bring out the hospitality in all of us, but it's during the harshest we find out how strong we really are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-meekins/the-bleakest-situations-bring-out-the-hospitality-in-all-of-us-but-it/) [Evan Meekins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-meekins/) > [To a generation beaten down by skyrocketing unemployment, plunging retirement savings, and mounting home foreclosures, 'Mad Men' offers the schadenfreude-filled message that their predecessors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-cohen/to-a-generation-beaten-down-by-skyrocketing-unemployment-plunging/) [Adam Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-cohen/) [Browse all 31 Bleakness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bleakness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“London had grown unstable once again, revealing its true, capricious, tormented nature, its anguish of a city that had lost its sense of itself and wallowed, accordingly, in the impotence of its selfish, angry present of masks and parodies, stifled and twisted by the insupportable, unrejected burden of its past, staring into the bleakness of its impoverished future.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Salman Rushdie" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-revealing-its-true-capricious/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bleakness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-revealing-its-true-capricious/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/salman-rushdie-153_nature_london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-rev_2223367.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“London had grown unstable once again, revealing its true, capricious, tormented nature, its anguish of a…” — Salman Rushdie", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Salman Rushdie", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“London had grown unstable once again,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-revealing-its-true-capricious/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/london-had-grown-unstable-once-again-revealing-its-true-capricious/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```