"“The True Word. Once every quarter, once every new-style month, I preach it.” “The True Word on what? Everybody’s got his own true word, you know.” “On how not to die, woman. The basis of every religion.” “No,” Zoe said. Not every one of them; just the ones that don’t know exactly what to do with the here-and-now.”"

"Tiglathpileser was a human, it’s rumored. And Caligula. So were a whole host of twentieth-century tyrants. So presumably were the brain-dead idiots who turned the Earth into a treeless detention camp. Being human, I’m afraid, doesn’t automatically confer demigod status on anyone."

"What was reprehensible in being fearful in the presence of the unknown?"

"Here he was, not quite twenty-five years old, and he was going to have to make a new life for himself. A host of options lay before him, but, tipsy with Chablis and sunshine, at the moment all he could truly feel was a powerful sense of loss and uncertainty. All the routes to his previous self—the self that had tried to survive as a loner in Fort Walton Beach—were blocked, and he did not know which new path to choose. “Ciao,” he said again, and this time he was not talking to his mother."

"He always played the role of a story-teller — something that can be considered his most important contribution to the world of film making."

"He never treated his child artistes like kids. That's why they were always comfortable in front of the camera. Manikda became their friend after a few days of shooting"

"To me, Satyajit Ray is just Manikda. Our relationship dates back to 1958, when he introduced me to the silver screen. I was just 13."

"Manikda was always different from the others. He did everything — from writing the script to choosing the location, finalizing the cast to designing sets and costumes, supervising make-up to framing the shots to editing. He was involved with each and every part of his film and was always very clear about what he wanted. His films were Indian but the production process was western. He also proved that silence can say a million words if used properly and was very economical with dialogues. He used barking of dogs, birdcalls, mechanical clatter or other natural sounds to brilliant effect. It was because of this detailing that every scene of his films became powerful and meaningful. And though he played so many roles behind the scenes, he accepted remuneration from the producer only for direction."

"But after having worked with Manikda, working in Bombay was confusing. I was too normal and realistic in front of the camera — the way Manikda had always taught me. But the Bombay directors wanted more energetic and louder acting. But today, most actors act that way."

"Sometimes even Satyajit Ray was criticized for portraying only the poverty of Bengal. That poverty is not the whole story of India, just a part."

"The Ray Gopi Gayan classic was known as much as a children's film, noted for Gupi, a singer, and Bagha, a drummer, as a social film which was a comment on poor governance, corruption at high places and lapses in administration in contemporary society."

"Oh, Mr. Ray is coming … the great film maker from India; you know, I am his fan and love his films; maybe I will be lucky to get to see him today; just start your car and follow me."

"Ray was a terrific director! He was versatile in choosing the subjects of his film. And his films were very sophisticated, very clean. I got some idea about India from his films."

"In the late 60s, there was a big probability of Satyajit Ray coming down to Hollywood to shoot The Alien based on his own short story which appeared in the then popular Bengali magazine, Sandesh. The film was to be produced by 20th Century Fox and Hollywood was waiting to embrace Ray with open arms. Alas! Due to some dirty politics played by unknown quarters, Ray's Hollywood dream had to be shelved. I have no qualms in admitting that Spielberg's E.T. was influenced by Ray's Alien. Even Sir Richard Attenborough pointed this out to me."

"Seven cities claimed blind Homer, dead, Through which blind Homer, living, begged his bread."

"It was a distinction without a difference."

"Suppose Sisyphus to have been acquitted his need of forever toiling up his hill in Hell, would he have made the last journey in joy? Or would mere fatigue have extinguished all other emotion, as a torch extinguished in a sconce?"

"It was but that, seeing him and so imagining that something about him was otherwise, automatically they feared him."

"It had not been precisely a fruitful meeting, but it had been a long one."

"She spun, as a matter of form and status alone, her woollen yarn and her oft-breaking thread. What else did she spin? he wondered. And the answer, not spoken aloud, was, a web. And one that now seemed sure to hold him fast. To hold him fast indeed."

"If the theme is simple, you can include a hundred details that create the illusion of actuality better."

"It’s not a matter of who runs first or who runs last. It’s merely a matter of who gets caught."

"Though you expel Nature with a pitchfork, she will always return."

"Everything meant something, still, some meanings were revealed sooner than others. And that some were seemingly never revealed in no way disproved the fact."

"It is not a very interesting night market, anyway. No wonderful things are sold there, though often one wonders, next day, how one could have bought them..."

"And then in that, admittedly magnificent, abrupt moment you saw what I concede without argument was the face of rather an attractive wench, and—Zeus! you weren’t thinking, man—you were simply reacting. It wasn’t your heart, it was your codpiece that the impulse came from!"

"I never imagined that any of my films, especially Pather Panchali, would be seen throughout this country or in other countries. The fact that they have is an indication that, if you're able to portray universal feelings, universal relations, emotions, and characters, you can cross certain barriers and reach out to others, even non-Bengalis."

"Sorcery works against Nature, magic works with it."

"These precautions, perhaps because they had been taken, proved unnecessary."

"Clearly this was no time to ask if they should first define their terms. Nor, for that matter, had Socrates had to define the bowl of hemlock."

"Surely you’ll at least see the Temple? Respect all religions, is my motto, believe in none. Sensible principle. Still, you know, must say, after all, two thousand beautiful priestesses! All ready, willing, able—and I must say—dextrous!— to do their best to inspire male worshippers with love for their goddess, hah-hah!"

"Rumor, I fear, is scarcely as accurate as he is rapid."

"But the Red Man denied that time, though it must always be paid for, could always be paid for in money."

"“There may be someone here who knows less about all this than I do,” Clemens said, “but I can’t imagine who.”"

"“Drew a knife on us,” one muttered, with the sullen rage of the bully who feels wronged when resisted."

"Hmm...hmm. A stag hunt. To what elaborate lengths the equestrian classes go in order to draw out the simple business of butchering venison."

"The ceremony was long and intricate, probably none of them could have explained why half of it was done, and the explanations for the other half would probably have been thoroughly incorrect."

"Where there is no bread, there is no philosophy."

"No greed was comparable to the appeal of self-sacrifice."

"“Don’t you see?” They did not see. This is the way things were done. Things were done this way. Things weren’t done another way. You did things the way you did things. You didn’t do things the way you didn’t do things."

"Recall the instructor at the Academy: “What is Man, young aspirants? Man is an animal that trades…”"

"I can tell you that only a fool destroys useful things merely because he doesn’t like them."

"A querulous whine that was almost a question was succeeded by a deep gobble that was almost an answer."

"It is not in the nature of any people that it should willingly endure being ruled by another people, whether it is ruled ill or ruled well."

"Last, but not least -- in fact, this is most important -- you need a happy ending. However, if you can create tragic situations and jerk a few tears before the happy ending, it will work much better."

"“Follow me, men! I’m right behind you!”"

"Experience may be a bitter teacher, but She is a good one."

"The instructor-Na has observed in the Na 14 tendencies toward an archaic and dangerous quality to which the ancients gave the name personal ambition."

"“How is your new woman? Your new-est one, I sh’d say.” Jack shrugged. “Good enough. They all got the same thing.” “Yeh-es,” Jeff nodded, judiciously. “But some of ’m’s got more of it than others.”"