My Notes -

‘Life isn't a fucking fairy tale, Prince. Life is real. Life is brutal. Life is ruthless.

Heroes need not slay the dragon or rescue a princess in distress, Prince. Heroes are those who do these little important things.

Nothing sells like nationalism and religion in our country.

'Even masters make mistakes. And in the game of chaturanga, skill alone does not ensure victory. One needs luck too. There are too many things that can go wrong. We play as it comes.

What better way to make people forget about their government’s failings? Give them religion—it’s an age-old technique used by rulers.

'I don’t know about that, Neelappa. I don’t know who is evil in this bloody game. I can only hope our cause is just, and the belief that good will win over evil is right. But I am too' bloody cynical to think the world follows any logic, It is a bloody jungle. The fittest survive. The strongest rules. The wiliest win. That is the way of the world. You have grown grey enough to know that

They might wither in the sun of the morrow, but who cared for tomorrow, when today was here.

'Look at those who are less fortunate, and you will always be grateful to God who has showered you with so many blessings,’ his father would say. The scorn of his brother popped up in his mind. ‘To be grateful to God, one needs to see more and more misery and thank him that we aren’t that miserable. What a wonderful God!’

‘How does it matter whether you were a king or a beggar when you die?'

‘Love for one person is selfish, love for the entire universe is noble,’

What use was staring at one’s navel and counting one’s breath when the world outside exploded with the ecstasy of life? What use was clarity, when the dreamlike state he lived was so sweet.

Gratitude is the most important virtue. Be thankful?

'Essentially, the difference between me, a petty thief, and the maharaja, is only in the scale of our greed. The man who steals from one is a thief, the man who steals from everyone is the ruler?

When the king fails in his dharma, every subject must become the protector of dharma.