Jhumpa Lahiri Quotes

I do try to write in ways that reflect reality, and I think that reality is rarely simple.

I never see myself as writing satire. I think I write about people as they really are, without making them better or worse.

I aim to tell the truth about any subject, not a romance or fantasy, not avoid the truth.

Portray the world for what it is, and you will find truth.

In nonfiction, you have that limitation, that constraint, of telling the truth.

Truth is exact correspondence with reality.

Sometimes movies gloss over things, and it was important to me that this was realistic.

Truth is a tendency.

I think sincerity was my sole aesthetic and realism my experimental technique.

I don't want happy-face conclusions. I want the truth.

I desire you would use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughnesses, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me, otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it.

You have to show reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

Whatever you put in your listing, make sure that it's a true representation of the property and it's not dishonest.

Anything in which you're playing someone real does make you feel responsible for making the story as true as it can be.

The only responsible way to write about anything is with honesty.

I try to be as realistic as possible.

A litterateur is not a confectioner, not a dealer in cosmetics, not an entertainer. . . . He is just like an ordinary reporter. What would you say if a newspaper reporter, because of his fastidiousness or from a wish to give pleasure to his readers, were to describe only honest mayors, high-minded ladies, and virtuous railroad contractors.

I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.

OK, so truth hurts - but what else does truth do?

The truth is the best picture, the best propaganda.

We cannot pretend that reality is different from what it is.

Truth, also is the pursuit of it.

You don't need to over-dramatise life, you can just reflect it. It's more interesting, in a way, if it appears to ring true.

Truth is a great flirt.

I felt that as long as we were being honest, and that we didn't bend the truth to accomplish another goal, to be entertaining or to be a happy ending, I was confident that we'd be able to tell the story the way it happened.