Life of Pi Quotes
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Adult Pi Patel: I wept like a child. Not because I was overwhelmed at having survived, although I was. I was weeping because Richard Parker left me so unceremoniously. It broke my heart. You know my father was right: Richard Parker never saw me as his friend. After all we had been through he didn't even look back. But I have to believe there was more in his eyes than my own reflection staring back at me. I know it, I felt it. Even if I can't prove it. You know, I left so much behind: my family, the zoo, India, Anandi. I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go. But what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye. I was never able to thank my father for all I learned from him. To tell him, without his lessons I would never have survived. I know Richard Parker's a tiger but I wish I had said, "It's over. We survived. Thank you for saving my life. I love you, Richard Parker. You'll always be with me. May God be with you."
Adult Pi Patel: [Pi and Richard Parker in the boat when they're about to leave the island]
[voice over]
Adult Pi Patel: No one has seen that island since, and you'd never read about those trees in any book. And yet, if I hadn't found those shores I would have died, if I hadn't discovered that tooth I would have been lost alone forever. 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 and gave me a sign to continue my journey...
[voice over]
Adult Pi Patel: No one has seen that island since, and you'd never read about those trees in any book. And yet, if I hadn't found those shores I would have died, if I hadn't discovered that tooth I would have been lost alone forever. 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 and gave me a sign to continue my journey...
Santosh Patel: Piscine, you cannot follow three different religions at the same time.
Pi Patel (11: Why not?
Santosh Patel: Because, believing in everything at once is the same thing as believing in nothing.
Gita Patel: He is young, Santosh. He is still trying to find his own way.
Santosh Patel: And how can he find his own way if he does not learn to choose a path? Instead of leaping from one religion to the next, why not start with reason? In ten years science has taught us more about the universe than religion has in ten-thousand.
Gita Patel: Yes, that is true. Science is very good at teaching us what is out there...
Gita Patel: [puts her hand over her heart] But not what is in here.
Santosh Patel: Some eat meat, some vegetarian. I do not expect us to agree about everything, but I would much rather have you believe in something I don't agree with, than to accept everything blindly.
Pi Patel (11: Why not?
Santosh Patel: Because, believing in everything at once is the same thing as believing in nothing.
Gita Patel: He is young, Santosh. He is still trying to find his own way.
Santosh Patel: And how can he find his own way if he does not learn to choose a path? Instead of leaping from one religion to the next, why not start with reason? In ten years science has taught us more about the universe than religion has in ten-thousand.
Gita Patel: Yes, that is true. Science is very good at teaching us what is out there...
Gita Patel: [puts her hand over her heart] But not what is in here.
Santosh Patel: Some eat meat, some vegetarian. I do not expect us to agree about everything, but I would much rather have you believe in something I don't agree with, than to accept everything blindly.
[first lines]
Writer: So, you were raised in a zoo?
Adult Pi Patel: Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part of India. My father owned the zoo, and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist, who was there to check on the Bengal monitor lizard. Mother and I were both healthy, but the poor lizard escaped and was trampled by a frightened cassowary. The way of karma, huh? The way of God.
Writer: So, you were raised in a zoo?
Adult Pi Patel: Born and raised. In Pondicherry, in what was the French part of India. My father owned the zoo, and I was delivered on short notice by a herpetologist, who was there to check on the Bengal monitor lizard. Mother and I were both healthy, but the poor lizard escaped and was trampled by a frightened cassowary. The way of karma, huh? The way of God.
Pi Patel: For castaways who must share their lifeboats with large, dangerous carnivores, it is advisable to establish a territory as your own. The following course of action is recommended. Step one: Choose a day when waves are moderate, but regular. Step two: with the lifeboat facing into the waves, making the ride as comfortable as possible, blow your whistle soothingly. Step three: turn the boat sideways to the waves, accompanied by harsh, aggressive use of the whistle. With sufficient repetition, the animal will associate the sound of the whistle with the discomfort of seasickness. Similar methods have long been used by circus trainers, though they generally lack access to rough seas.
[Pi climbs onto the boat and urinates at the end of the tarp]
Pi Patel: MINE! You understand? Yours, mine! You understand?
[Richard Parker sniffs, then turns and urinates in Pi's face]
Pi Patel: [v.o] Step four: disregard steps one through three.
[Pi climbs onto the boat and urinates at the end of the tarp]
Pi Patel: MINE! You understand? Yours, mine! You understand?
[Richard Parker sniffs, then turns and urinates in Pi's face]
Pi Patel: [v.o] Step four: disregard steps one through three.
Adult Pi Patel: [voice over] And then Richard Parker, my fierce companion, the terrible one who kept me alive, disappeared forever from my life.
[Pi lies on the sand when a group of locals run down the beach towards him]
Adult Pi Patel: [voice over] After a few hours, a member of my own species found me. He left and returned with a group who carried me away.
[Pi sobs as he's carried away]
Adult Pi Patel: [voice over] I wept like a child, not because I was overwhelmed at having survived, although I was. I was weeping because Richard Parker left me so unceremoniously. It broke my heart.
[Pi lies on the sand when a group of locals run down the beach towards him]
Adult Pi Patel: [voice over] After a few hours, a member of my own species found me. He left and returned with a group who carried me away.
[Pi sobs as he's carried away]
Adult Pi Patel: [voice over] I wept like a child, not because I was overwhelmed at having survived, although I was. I was weeping because Richard Parker left me so unceremoniously. It broke my heart.
Pi Patel: [voice over] I never thought a small piece of shade could bring me so much happiness. That a pile of tools, a bucket, a knife, a pencil, might become my greatest treasures. Or that knowing Richard Parker was here might ever bring me peace. In times like these, I remember that he has as little experience of the real world as I do. We were both raised in a zoo by the same master. Now we've been orphaned, left to face our ultimate master together. Without Richard Parker, I would have died by now. My fear of him keeps me alert. Tending to his needs gives my life purpose.
