My life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition.
Yann MartelYou bring joy and pain in equal measure. Joy because you are with me, but pain because it wont be for long.
Yann MartelThat's what fiction is about, isn't it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence?
Yann MartelIf we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.
Yann MartelA zoo is not an ideal place for an animal - of course the best place for a chimp is the wilds of Tanzania - but a good zoo is a decent, acceptable place. Animals are far more flexible than we realize. IF they weren't, they wouldn't have survived. But my opinion about zoos came after research. Initially I had the opinion that most people have, that they are jails.
Yann Martel