D’you know what happens when you hurt people?’ Ammu said. ‘When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That’s what careless words do. They mak… - Arundhati Roy

That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.

When you hurt people, they begin to love you less. That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less.

they asked the poor what it was like to be poor, the hungry what it was like to be hungry, the homeless what it was like to be homeless.

Normalcy was declared. (Normalcy was always a declaration.)

She knew he’d be back. No matter how elaborate its charade, she recognized loneliness when she saw it. She sensed that in some strange tangential way, he needed her shade as much as she needed his. And she had learned from experience that Need was a warehouse that could accommodate a considerable amount of cruelty.