Jhumpa Lahiri Quotes

A hand fought best when it made a fist.

See, I have taken England with both my hands

The Apache Indian, superior in strength to the Mexican, [has] gradually extirpated every trace of civilization, and roamed uninterrupted and unmolested, sole possessor of what was once a thriving and populous Spanish province.

The family that I live for only breathes the air that smells of combat.

He is strong, and lithe, and certain. And he is mine.

"This isn't over," I said. "After everything we've been through, you don't get the right to brush me off. I'm not letting you off that easily." I wasn't sure if it was a threat, my last stab at defiance, or irrational words spoken straight from my splintered heart. "I want to protect you," Patch said quietly. He stood so close. All strength and heat and silent power. I couldn't escape him, now or ever. He'd always be there, consuming my every thought, my heart locked in his hands. I was drawn to him by forces I couldn't control, let alone escape. "But you didn't".

A thick stick in one's hand makes people respectful.

The best belongs to me and mine; and if we are not given it, we take it: the best food, the purest sky, the most robust thoughts, the fairest women!

As he took her hand she saw him look her over from head to foot, a gesture she recognized and that made her feel at home, but gave her always a faint feeling of superiority to whoever made it. If her person was property she could exercise whatever advantage was inherent in its ownership.

You see what power is holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them.

Thou must (in commanding and winning, or serving and losing, suffering or triumphing) be either anvil or hammer.

all history shows that the hand that cradles the rock has ruled the world, not the hand that rocks the cradle!

In joined hands there is still some token of hope, in the clenched fist none.

Money and muscle, that's what I want; to be able to do any damned thing I want and get away with it. Money won't do that altogether, because if a man is a weakling, all the money in the world won't enable him to soak an enemy himself; on the other hand, unless he has money he may not be able to get away with it.

Aladdin's lamp is mine.

Simply because, one hand, there are the haters, The hater has power. All we can do is oppose it, or one becomes an accomplice.

Power only tires those who don't exercise it.

Rules with an iron fist, but sometimes in that fist is a rose.

When you are wrestling for possession of a sword, the man with the handle always wins.

If you're going to have centralization, why not have it!

It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins.

If one has got power, one must manifest it in action.

It is easier to conquer than to administer. With enough leverage, a finger could overturn the world; but to support the world, one must have the shoulders of Hercules.

Restraint does not mean weakness. It does not mean giving in.