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61 " A situation in itself,” he said, “is neither happy nor unhappy. It’s only your response to it that causes your sorrow. But "
― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni , The Palace of Illusions
62 " When Arjun asked why man found himself driven to wrongdoing in spite of good intentions, Krishna replied, Because of anger and desire, our two direst enemies. How "
63 " Early in my life, I learned to eavesdrop. I was driven to this ignoble practice because people seldom told me anything worth knowing. "
64 " Drupad was mystified. He'd had little to do with the Kaurava clan, whose kingdom lay to the northwest, in Hastinapur. From what he'd heard, their blind ruler, Dhritarashtra, was a quiet, careful man. "
65 " She taught me to close myself off from the sorrow of others so that I might survive "
66 " the confidence of the untested. "
67 " mother?” Yudhisthir asked. “Haven't our scriptures "
68 " It's a rare man—and an even rarer ruler—that can remain untouched by jealousy in the face of a peer's sudden prosperity. "
69 " The force of a person's believing seeps into those around him— into the very earth and air and water—until there's nothing else. "
70 " sometimes one has to drop logic and go with the instinct of the heart, even if it contradicts law. "
71 " his love was totally different from every other love in my life. Unlike them, it didn't expect me to behave in a certain way. It didn't change into displeasure or anger or even hatred if I didn't comply. It healed me. "
72 " What is more numerous than the grass? The thoughts that rise in the mind of man. Who is truly wealthy? That man to whom the agreeable and disagreeable, wealth and woe, past and future, are the same. What is the most wondrous thing on earth? Each day countless humans enter the Temple of Death, yet the ones left behind continue to live as though they were immortal. "
73 " I saw that this was how we would live out the next decades, dragging ourselves from one expected action to the next, hoping by meticulous duty to bring each other some small measure of happiness. But the comfort that duty offers is lukewarm at best. Happiness, like a mischievous bird that hops from branch to branch, would continue to elude us. "
74 " This is the nature of sorrow; often it fades with time, but once in a while it remains lodged below the surface of things, a stubborn thorn beneath a fingernail, making itself felt every time you brush against it. (How well I knew this, for random events would startle me into the memory of a pair of ancient eyes.) "
75 " For isint that what our homes are ultimately, our fantasies made corporeal, our secret selves exposed? "
76 " Can't you ever be serious?' I said, mortified.'It's difficult,' he said. 'There's so little in life that's worth it. "
77 " Were the stories we told each other true? Who knows? At the best of times, a story is a slippery thing. Perhaps that was why it changed with each telling. Or is that the nature of all stories, the reason for their power? "
78 " There was an unexpected freedom in finding out that one wasn't as important as one had always assumed! "
79 " The fates are cruel,” Bheeshma whispered, “and they’ve been crueler than usual to you. But the sins you committed in ignorance are not your fault.” “I’ll still have to pay for them,” Karna said. “Isn’t that how karma works? Look at what happened to Pandu, who killed a sage by accident, thinking him to be a wild deer. He had to bear the consequences of it for the rest of his life. "
80 " What is the most wondrous thing on earth? Each day countless humans enter the Temple of Death, yet the ones left behind continue to live as though they were immortal. "