Quotes from Abraham Verghese

I believe that geography is destiny

inhales. Digby feels the first stirrings of hunger. By such subtle signs, like an orchestra tuning up, the daily event that is central to life on the Coromandel Coast announces itself: the evening breeze. The

It should be a basic human right.

The voyage of discovery is not about new lands, but having new eyes.

His art, so he tells himself, is to give voice to the ordinary, in memorable ways.

dog lives for you. A cat just lives with you.

When we cannot cure or save a life, our patients can at least feel cared for. It should be a basic human right." Harris

Faith is to know the pattern is there, even though none is visible.

One thing I know, I love to learn. I love literature. With these books I can sail the seven seas, chase a white whale . . .

This is the covenant of water: that they're all linked inescapably by their acts of commission and omission, and no one stands alone. She stays there listening to the burbling mantra, the chant that never ceases, repeating its message that all is one. What she thought was her life is all maya, all

there's no going back; time and water move on relentlessly.

A rich man's faults are covered with money, but a surgeon's faults are covered with earth.

key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't. If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.

missed four words

But if you did, if you had that kind of curiosity, if you had an innate interest in the welfare of your fellow human beings, and if you went through that door, a strange thing happened: you left your petty troubles on the threshold. It could be addictive.

Such precious, precious water, Lord, water from our own well; this water that is our covenant with You, with this soil, with the life You granted us. We are born and baptized in this water, we grow full of pride, we sin, we are broken, we suffer, but with water we are cleansed of our transgressions, we are forgiven, and we are born again, day after day till the end of our days. Her mat takes her weight kindly, eases

When she walked away I felt the weight of what she left unsaid. I wanted to call after her, Ma! You have it all wrong. But just as she kept her thoughts to herself, I was learning to do the same. This was what growing up was about: hide the corpse, don't bare your heart, do make assumptions about the motives of others. They're certainly doing all these things to you.

Sisters of the Nigrizia

People change, you know. When you leave your country, you are like a plant taken out of soil. Some people turn hard, they can't flower again.

You" or "Your" never meant one of us. When we replied to a question, no one cared which of us had spoken; an answer from one was an answer for The Twins.

A woman with unconventional beauty raises the hope that the viewer might be the only one to see it, that in recognizing and appreciating it, he alone has created her beauty.

You monkey, you, I wanted to say, and I reached hungrily for his hand, our fingers interlocking. You should laugh more, it suits you: see how the furrows around your brow vanish and your ears ease back?

Make your life something beautiful for God.

A daughter has an open door into a father's heart.