I went into the business for the money, and the art grew out of it. If people are disillusioned by that remark, I can't help it. It's the truth.

Sound has spoiled the most ancient of the world's arts, the art of pantomime, and has canceled out the great beauty that is silence.

[Talkies] are spoiling the oldest art in the world - the art of pantomime. They are ruining the great beauty of silence.

Books were always my friends Last more than fifty years Books gave me dreams. Dreams resulted in missions. Books helped me confidently take up the missions. Books gave me courage at the time of failures. Good books were for me angels that touched my heart gently at the time. Hence I ask young friends to have books as friends. Books are your good friends.

Art keeps me alive. I've obviously been devastated or heartbroken all my life, since my mother's death.

In the humble environs of my boyhood, books were a scarce commodity. By local standards, however, the personal library of STR Manickam, a former 'revolutionary' or militant nationalist, was sizeable. He encouraged me to read all I could and I often visited his home to borrow books.