It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured.\

I don't know what frightens me more, the power that crushes us, or our endless ability to endure it.

The most precious gift you can bring to your lover is your suffering.

I don't know what frightens me more

The choice you make, between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.

Some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. Some things are so sad that only your soul can do the crying for them.

Shantaram is the second in the series of a quartet of novels that I have planned about my life but is the first to be written. The third book is a sequel to Shantaram, the first a prequel.