“The thing you know in the abstract, but which you have to see, is the vastness of the place and how little relationship one side of it has to another. Mostly, the landscape is just unbelievably beautiful. You do a lot of looking and not that much thinking.”

— Kamila Shamsie

Source: On living and travelling throughout the United States in “THE SRB INTERVIEW: Kamila Shamsie” https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/2018/08/the-srb-interview-kamila-shamsie/ in The Scottish Review of Books (2018 Aug 11)

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Kamila Shamsie18

Pakistani writer 1973

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“"All this beauty makes a person realize how insignificant they are," Paul says.
"How insignificant I am. You're the insignificant one"
He grins real big as he realizes how his words sounded. "I didn't mean it like that," he chuckles.
"No, I know what you meant, bud. I was just thinking kind of the same thing. I was looking at all this depth and it came to me how very shallow you are."
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"Is that right," I say. "Well, I was just considering how smart these rocks look and it made me realize how dumb you are." With that I give him a little kick in the backside.
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Paul distances himself a little and keeps turning to see if I am going to kick him again. He's got this grin going like he got the last laugh.
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“To find beauty in everyone you must see beauty in everyone, then announce that you see it, for in announcing it, you place it there in their reality. Make it your life's mission today to bring to the attention of another just how extraordinary they are. Say it. Say it. SAY it. Their heart is waiting to know that their own best thought about themselves can be believed.”

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“The thing you know in the abstract, but which you have to see, is the vastness of the place and how little relationship one side of it has to another. Mostly, the landscape is just unbelievably beautiful. You do a lot of looking and not that much thinking.”

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Kamila Shamsie18

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