Check out these 29 Life of Pi Quotes that express philosophical facts of life from the point of view of a sixteen-year-old. While it is a story of struggle and losses, it inspires you to not just acquiesce to your fate, but to actively fight it, because your destiny lies in your hands. It is a complete bubble and squeak of genres that present a stream of consciousness, magical realism, and religious philosophy.
29 Life of Pi Quotes That Teach You the Deep Truths of Life
Life of Pi Quotes That Are Downright Inspirational
#1. “You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#2. “The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn’t that make life a story?” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#3. “You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did. And as a result, I perked up and felt much better.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#4. “If there’s only one nation in the sky, shouldn’t all passports be valid for it?” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#5. “The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
Life of Pi Quotes That Teach You Philosophy
#6. “All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#7. “Can there be any happiness greater than the happiness of salvation?” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#8. “My greatest wish―other than salvation―was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#9. “Why can’t reason give greater answers? Why can we throw a question further than we can pull in an answer? Why such a vast net if there’s so little fish to catch?” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#10. “We commonly say in the trade that the most dangerous animal in a zoo is Man.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#11. “It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#12. “It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
Life of Pi Quotes about Survival
#13. “You can get used to anything―haven’t I already said that? Isn’t that what all survivors say?” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#14. “I had to stop hoping so much that a ship would rescue me. I should not count on outside help. Survival had to start with me. In my experience, a castaway’s worst mistake is to hope too much and to do too little. Survival starts by paying attention to what is close at hand and immediate. To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one’s life away.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
Life of Pi Quotes That Teach You Religion
#15. “I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its spirit, and not to love it. It is a beautiful religion of brotherhood and devotion.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#16. “These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy… walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, ‘Business as usual.’ But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#17. “I couldn’t get Him out of my head. Still can’t. I spent three solid days thinking about Him. The more He bothered me, the less I could forget Him. And the more I learned about Him, the less I wanted to leave Him.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#18. “Even when God seemed to have abandoned me, he was watching. Even when he seemed indifferent to my suffering, he was watching. And when I was beyond all hope of saving, he gave me rest. Then he gave me a sign to continue my journey.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#19. “There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God. These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#20. “I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
Life of Pi Quotes That Teach Life
#21. “Life will defend itself no matter how small it is.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#22. “Don’t you bully me with your politeness! Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#23. “Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they’ve known for a great unknown beyond the horizon? The answer is the same the world over: people move in the hope of a better life.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#24. “Life is a peephole, a single tiny entry onto a vastness―how can I not dwell on this brief, cramped view of things? This peephole is all I’ve got!” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#25. “It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose from that I’ve made none the champion.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#26. “It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise, you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#27. “Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an endgame in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn’t be more simple, nor the stakes higher.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#28. “Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous possessive love that grabs at what it can.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
#29. “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.” ―Yann Martel,Life of Pi
Conclusion
Whether you read the book or watched the movie, you’ll agree with me that Life of Pi, is essentially a slice of life. It puts the two most dangerous animals on the same boat―a tiger and a man and an evocative symbolism of what the two represent. These Life of Pi quotes draw on the various facets of life, inspiring us to surmount the obstacles in our path.
Image source: Life of Pi photo from pinterest.com
