I owed the greater apology, but at the same time I knew that was done, that no matter what I said now I would never be able to make it right.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

I returned to my existence, the existence I had chosen instead of you.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

I think that a writer should observe the real world before imagining a non-existent one.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

I think that what I have been truly searching for as a person, as a writer, as a thinker, as a daughter, is freedom. That is my mission. A sense of liberty, the liberty that comes not only from self-awareness but also from letting go of many things. Many things that weigh us down.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

It's easier to surrender to confinement.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

I've never had Internet access. Actually, I have looked at things on other people's computers as a bystander. A few times in my life I've opened email accounts, twice actually, but it's something I don't want in my life right now.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

Language, identity, place, home: these are all of a piece - just different elements of belonging and not-belonging.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

Most people trusted in the future, assuming that their preferred version of it would unfold.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

My grandfather says that's what books are for," Ashore said, using the opportunity to open the volume in his hands. "To travel without moving an inch.

— Jhumpa Lahiri

My parents had an arranged marriage, as did so many other people when I was growing up. My father came and had a life in the United States one way and my mother had a different one, and I was very aware of those things. I continue to wonder about it, and I will continue to write about it.

— Jhumpa Lahiri