I think sometimes feeling that you've been marginalized opens you up to the realization that, in their own lives, almost everyone experiences marginalization, a kind of foreigner sense. Mohsin Hamid More Quotes by Mohsin Hamid More Quotes From Mohsin Hamid My earliest memories are of watching Star Trek and MASH while my parents barbecued chicken in the back yard. I was an American kid, through and through. Mohsin Hamid stars memories kids I think there's really strong social stratification in South Asia. Mohsin Hamid asia strong thinking A reader should encounter themselves in a novel, I think. Mohsin Hamid encounters should thinking We need a self because the complexity of the chemical processes that make up our individual humanities exceeds the processing power of our brains. Mohsin Hamid humanity self brain Childbirth changed my perception of my wife. She was now the bloodied special forces soldier who had fought and risked everything for our family. Mohsin Hamid wife perception soldier America's strength has made it a sort of Gulliver in world affairs: By wiggling its toes it can, often inadvertently, break the arm of a Lilliputian. Mohsin Hamid arms america world I don't know if I'm truly at home in any language. Mohsin Hamid language ifs home The world seems concerned with Pakistan primarily as an actor in global attempts to combat terrorism. Mohsin Hamid pakistan actors world What used to help us to cope with transience was stuff like, extended families all living in one place, or very strong religious beliefs, or a tribe that would outlive you. That stuff is getting weaker. Mohsin Hamid strong religious stuff Pakistan hasn't been cast in the role of... interesting cultural place or, you know, land of great comedians. Mohsin Hamid comedian land interesting Oftentimes I deliberately put ambiguity into my books so that... the reader is left with an echo of: 'How much of this was from me?' Mohsin Hamid ambiguity echoes book I'd rather create a miniature painting than a Taj Mahal of a book. Mohsin Hamid taj-mahal painting book Transience is what is normal. The problem is that we are busily trying to create political structures and cultural expressions that deny that and to deny that is to deny the basic idea of what is human. Mohsin Hamid political expression ideas If your sense of self is destabilised, to imagine being another becomes pretty easy. Mohsin Hamid imagine self easy I was 30 when 9/11 happened and I had lived exactly 15 years of life in America, so I was half American. I was a full-fledged New Yorker. Mohsin Hamid half america years Islam is not a race, yet Islamophobia partakes of racist characteristics. Mohsin Hamid racist islam race We're being subject to incredible amounts of surveillance, the police are taking on draconian powers and violating our rights. I think this attempt to protect ourselves is ultimately going to founder because people don't like living inside prisons. Mohsin Hamid rights people thinking I'm not sure if guys are supposed to read Vanity Fair. I feel very metrosexual with it but am not sure it's in my comfort zone. Mohsin Hamid vanity guy comfort If differences can be hidden, perhaps they aren't differences at all. Mohsin Hamid differences ifs Sufi poetry is, in a sense, self-help poetry about how to live a decent life, how to deal with your mortality. Mohsin Hamid sufi self helping