How does faith endure when you’re stranded with a tiger?
Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel, Life of Pi, plunges into survival, storytelling, and the fierce will to believe against impossible odds. Pi Patel’s harrowing journey tests the limits of endurance and the very nature of reality itself.
This collection gathers 112 essential quotes charting Pi’s physical and spiritual odyssey, organized by the book’s major parts. Character attributions provide context.
Important Note on Page Numbers: Page numbers cited below (*e.g., Page VIII*) reference the widely available **Mariner Books 2003 paperback edition** of Life of Pi (ISBN-13: 978-0156027328). While this edition is used as the source, page numbers can still vary slightly between different printings or formats (paperback, hardcover, ebook). **Always verify against your specific copy** for academic citations or precise reference.
Author’s Note Quotes
Martel sets the stage, reflecting on storytelling and the vital role of imagination in confronting reality.
“That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence?”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, Author’s Note, Page VIII*
“If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, Author’s Note, Page XII*
The narrative then begins, introducing Pi Patel and his unique upbringing that blends zoology with a deep exploration of multiple faiths in Pondicherry, India.
Part One Quotes: Toronto and Pondicherry
This section establishes Pi’s character, his fascination with animals and religion (Hinduism, Christianity, Islam), the operations of his family’s zoo, and the events leading to their decision to emigrate.
“As for hearing, the sloth is not so much deaf as uninterested in sound.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 1, Page 4*
“The three-toed sloth lives a peaceful, vegetarian life… I felt I was in the presence of upside-down yogis deep in meditation or hermits deep in prayer…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 1, Pages 4, 5*
“When you’ve suffered a great deal in life, each additional pain is both unbearable and trifling.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 1, Page 5*
“You may not believe in life, but I don’t believe in death… Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it… But life leaps over oblivion lightly… and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 1, Pages 5, 6*
“I have nothing to say of my working life, only that a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he’s not careful.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 1, Page 6*
“I’ve never forgotten him. Dare I say I miss him? I do… Such is the strangeness of the human heart. I still cannot understand how he could abandon me so unceremoniously… The pain is like an axe that chops my heart.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator, about Richard Parker), Chapter 1, Page 6*
“I love Canada… It is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 1, Page 6*
“My alarm clock during my childhood was a pride of lions.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 4, Page 14*
“If you went to a home, kicked down the front door, chased the people… out into the street and said, “Go! You are free!…” — do you think they would shout and dance for joy? They wouldn’t… Birds are not free.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 4, Page 17*
“A house is a compressed territory where our basic needs can be fulfilled close by and safely.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 4, Page 18*
“One might even argue that if an animal could choose… it would opt for living in a zoo… Would you rather be put up at the Ritz… or be homeless without a soul to care for you?… 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, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 4, Pages 18, 19*
“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, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 4, Page 19*
“I explore it now in the only place left for it, my memory.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 4, Page 19*
“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, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 5, Page 20*
“It seems to be a law of human nature that those who live by the sea are suspicious of swimmers…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 5, Page 22*
“And so, in that Greek letter… in that elusive, irrational number… I found refuge.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 5, Page 24*
“Repetition is important in the training not only of animals but also of humans.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 7, Page 25*
“Reason is my prophet and it tells me that as a watch stops, so we die… If the watch doesn’t work properly, it must be fixed here and now by us.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Mr. Kumar), Chapter 7, Page 28*
“I was more afraid that in a few words thrown out he might destroy something that I loved… What a terrible disease that must be if it could kill God in a man.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 7, Page 28*
“If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer… then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 7, Page 28*
“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 7, Page 28*
“We commonly say in the trade that the most dangerous animal in a zoo is Man.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 8, Page 29*
“Just beyond the ticket booth Father had painted on a wall… DO YOU KNOW WHICH IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL IN THE ZOO? An arrow pointed… Behind it was a mirror.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 8, Page 31*
“Life will defend itself no matter how small it is.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Santosh Patel), Chapter 8, Page 38*
“All living things contain a measure of madness… This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 10, Page 41*
“…animals don’t escape from somewhere but from something”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 10, Page 41*
“If you took the city of Tokyo and turned it upside down… you would be amazed at the animals that fall out…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 10, Page 42*
“…if you fall into a lion’s pit… the reason the lion will tear you to pieces is… because you’ve invaded it’s territory.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 13, Page 43*
“…the trainer better make sure he always remains super alpha. He will pay dearly if he unwittingly slips to beta ”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 13, Page 43*
“Socially inferior animals are the ones that make the most strenuous… efforts to get to know their keepers… prove to be the ones most faithful…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 14, Page 45*
“We are all born like Catholics, aren’t we—in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God?”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 47*
“A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 47*
“I am a Hindu because of sculptured cones of red kumkum powder… because of the clanging of bells… because of the fragrance of incense… because of colourful murals telling colourful stories… because of foreheads carrying… faith.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 47*
“…for everything has a trace of the divine in it.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 48*
“The individual soul touches upon the world soul like a well reaches for the water table… The finite within the infinite, the infinite within the finite.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Pages 48, 49*
“The paths to liberation are numerous, but the bank along the way is always the same, the Bank of Karma…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 49*
“I am reminded of a story of Lord Krishna… But the moment the girls become possessive… he vanishes. So it is that we should not be jealous of God.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 49*
“Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims… are bearded Hindus, and Christians… are hat wearing Muslims.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 16, Page 49*
“Or rather, since Christians are so fond of capital letters, a Story.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 17, Page 53*
“It’s morning in Bethany and God is hungry… He comes to a fig tree… God is peeved… instantly the fig tree withers… I couldn’t get Him out of my head… And the more I learned about Him the less I wanted to leave Him.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 17, Pages 56, 57*
“Christianity is a religion in a rush… If Hinduism flows placidly like the Ganges, then Christianity bustles like Toronto at rush hour… in essence it exists only at one time: right now.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 17, Page 57*
“Whoever meets Christ in good faith is a Christian.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Father Martin), Chapter 17, Page 57*
“I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its spirit, and not to love it… It felt good to bring my forehead to the ground. Immediately it felt like a deeply religious contact.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 19, Page 61*
“If you take two steps towards God,’ he used to tell me, ‘God runs to you!”
― Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Muslim worshiper), Chapter 20, Page 61*
“The presence of God is the finest of rewards.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 20, Page 63*
“I can well imagine an athiest’s last words: “White, white! L-L-Love! My God!”… Whereas the agnostic… might try to explain the warm light… and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 22, Page 64*
“God is universal,” spluttered the priest… “There is only one God.”… “Says the slave-driver of the cast system,” huffed the imam… “While Christians kneel before a white man!””
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Dialogue: Priest, Imam, Pandit), Chapter 23, Page 68*
“Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel), Chapter 23, Page 69*
“So, Swami Jesus, will you go on the hajj this year?” Ravi said… “Does Mecca beckon?”… “Or will it be to Rome…?” … “Have you found time yet… [to] become a Jew?…””
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Ravi Patel), Chapter 24, Page 70*
“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… The main battlefield for good is not the open ground… but the small clearing of each heart…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 25, Pages 70, 71*
“If there’s only one nation in the sky, shouldn’t all passports be valid for it?”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Gita Patel), Chapter 26, Page 74*
“Progress is unstoppable… Technology helps and good ideas spread… If you don’t let technology help you… you condemn yourself to dinosaurhood!”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel), Chapter 27, Page 75*
“Why do people move?… Why climb this Mount Everest of formalities…? Why enter this jungle of foreignness…? The answer… people move in the hope of a better life.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 29, Page 77*
“A zoo is a cultural institution… at the service of popular education and science… not much of a money-making venture…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 29, Page 78*
“To prosper, a zoo needs parliamentary government… Impossible to enjoy the animals otherwise. Long-term, bad politics is bad for business.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 29, Page 79*
“Because of the gnawing feeling that no matter how hard they work their efforts will yield nothing…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 29, Page 79*
“There are many examples of animals coming to surprising living arrangements…where an animal takes a human being or another animal to be one of it’s kind.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 32, Page 84*
“Nil magnum nisi bonum. No greatness without goodness.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 33, Page 87*
“Things didn’t turn out the way they used to, but what can you do? You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 35, Page 91*
Pi’s relatively stable world in Pondicherry abruptly ends as the family sets sail for Canada, leading directly into the harrowing survival narrative of Part Two.
Part Two Quotes: The Pacific Ocean
After the Tsimtsum sinks, Pi finds himself adrift on a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger. This section details his incredible 227-day ordeal of survival, faith, and the brutal realities of life at sea.
“I am to suffer hell without any account from heaven?”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 37, Page 98*
“Nature can put on a thrilling show. The stage is vast… budget for special effects is absolutely unlimited.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 38, Page 102*
“It was as unbelievable as the moon catching fire.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 38, Page 103*
“I thought they were helping me… Only when they threw me overboard did I begin to have doubts.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 38, Page 105*
“I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific… an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath me, a storm raging about me.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 40, Page 107*
“How bitterly glad I am to see you… Joy because you are with me, but pain because it won’t be for long… Come aboard if your destination is oblivion… Let me say plainly: I love you…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel, to Richard Parker), Chapter 42, Page 111*
“When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 45, Page 120*
“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, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 46, Page 123*
“To lose a brother… To lose your father… To lose your mother… is like losing the sun above you…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 46, Page 127*
“Of hunger and thirst, thirst is the greater imperative.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 48, Page 133*
“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, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 49, Page 134*
“If thirst can be so taxing that even God Incarnate complains about it, imagine the effect on a regular human.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 49, Page 134*
“How true is that necessity is the mother of invention, how very true.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 50, Page 139*
“My feelings can perhaps be imagined, but they can hardly be described.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 51, Page 142*
“I tell you, to be drunk on alcohol is disgraceful, but to be drunk on water is noble and ecstatic.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 51, Page 143*
“Oncoming death is terrible enough, but worse still is oncoming death with time to spare… You see with utter lucidity all that you are losing.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 53, Page 147*
“I was giving up… if a voice hadn’t made itself heard… “I will not die… I will turn miracle into routine… Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 53, Page 148*
“My face set to a grim and determined expression… I discovered… I have a fierce will to live… We fight and fight and fight… It’s something constitutional, an inability to let go.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 53, Page 148*
“…if there’s one thing more dangerous than a healthy animal, it’s an injured animal.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 54, Page 158*
“It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 56, Page 161*
“I must say a word about fear… It is a clever, treacherous adversary… It begins in your mind… Doubt meets disbelief… Reason comes to battle… but… reason is laid low… Your anxiety becomes dread.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 56, Page 161*
“For fear, real fear… nestles in your memory like a gangrene… So you must fight hard to express it… Because if you don’t… you open yourself to further attacks of fear…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 56, Page 162*
“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, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 58, Pages 168-169*
“The moon was a sharply defined crescent… The stars shone with such fierce, contained brilliance that it seemed absurd to call the night dark.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 60, Page 177*
“For the first time I noticed… that my suffering was taking place in a grand setting… My suffering did not fit anywhere… And I could accept this. It was all right.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 60, Page 177*
“Life is a peephole, a single tiny entry onto a vastness… This peephole is all I’ve got!”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 60, Page 177*
“Blessed be shock… Blessed be the part of us that protects us from too much pain and sorrow…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 61, Page 180*
“I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul… I was now a killer… I was sixteen years old… and now I had blood on my hands… All sentient life is sacred.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 61, Page 183*
“I took the hatchet… and vigorously beat the fish… The dorado… began to flash all kinds of colours… I felt I was beating a rainbow to death.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 61, Page 185*
“You may be astonished that… I could go from weeping over… a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning… a dorado… It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 61, Page 185*
“Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 63, Page 192*
“No one dies of nausea, but it can seriously sap the will to live.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 71, Page 205*
“I cannot think of a better way to spread the faith… just a book of scripture quietly waiting to say hello…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 73, Page 208*
“Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust… At such moments I tried to elevate myself… “THIS IS GOD’S HAT!””
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 74, Pages 208-209*
“Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 74, Page 209*
“The worst pair of opposites is boredom and terror… Sometimes your life is a pendulum swing from one to the other… Yet even these two opposites do not remain distinct…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 78, Page 217*
“Only death consistently excites your emotions…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 78, Page 217*
“Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an end game in chess… The elements couldn’t be more simple, nor the stakes higher.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 78, Page 217*
“At moments of wonder, it is easy to avoid small thinking, to entertain thoughts that span the universe…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 85, Page 233*
“Can there be any happiness greater than the happiness of salvation?”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 86, Page 234*
“Misery loves company, and madness calls it forth.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 90, Page 242*
“I have read that there are two fears that cannot be trained out of us… I would like to add a third… the rapid and direct approch of a known killer”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 92, Page 263*
“I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 92, Pages 282-283*
“High calls low and low calls high. I tell you, if you were in such dire straits as I was, you too would elevate your thoughts…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 93, Page 283*
“It was natural that, bereft and desperate… I should turn to God”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 93, Pages 283-284*
“Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 94, Page 285*
“I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously… it’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go…”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 94, Page 285*
“It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go… That bungled goodbye hurts me to this day.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 94, Page 285*
“I wish I had said, “Richard Parker, it’s over… thank you. Thank you for saving my life… And now go where you must… Watch out for Man… But I hope you will remember me as a friend… So farewell, Richard Parker, farewell. God be with you.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel as Narrator), Chapter 94, Pages 285, 286*
Pi’s survival leads him to Mexico, where the veracity of his incredible story is questioned, forcing a reflection on faith, reality, and the power of narrative itself.
Part Three Quotes: Benito Juarez Infirmary, Tomatlan, Mexico
Rescued and recovering, Pi recounts his tale to Japanese Ministry of Transport officials. They find his story with Richard Parker unbelievable and press him for a more ‘realistic’ account. Pi offers a second, brutal story involving human survivors, ultimately asking them which story they prefer – challenging the nature of truth and belief.
“If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn’t love hard to believe?”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel to the Japanese officials), Chapter 99, Page 297*
“I applied my reason at every moment… Reason is the very best tool kit… But be excessively reasonable and you risk throwing out the universe with the bathwater.”
~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Character: Pi Patel to the Japanese officials), Chapter 99, Page 298*
“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, (Character: Pi Patel to the Japanese officials), Chapter 99, Page 302*
Conclusion: Choosing the Better Story
*Life of Pi* masterfully intertwines adventure with profound philosophical questions. These 93 quotes trace Pi’s journey through faith, suffering, and the essential human need for meaning. Martel challenges us to consider the stories we tell ourselves and whether the ‘better story’—the one that allows for wonder and belief—holds a truth more vital than mere fact.
Which story resonates more with you, and why do you think Pi offers both?
How to Cite the Book & Article
*Important Note on Page Numbers: Page numbers cited (*e.g., Page VIII*) reference the **Mariner Books 2003 paperback edition** of Life of Pi (ISBN-13: 978-0156027328). Verify against your specific copy for academic citations.
Cite This Article (MLA):
Mortis, Jeremy. “112 Life of Pi Quotes With Page Numbers by Yann Martel.” Ageless Investing, 9 Mar. 2022, https://agelessinvesting.com/life-of-pi-quotes-with-page-numbers/. Accessed [DATE].
Cite This Article (APA):
Mortis, J. (2022, March 9). 112 Life of Pi quotes with page numbers by Yann Martel. Ageless Investing. Retrieved [DATE], from https://agelessinvesting.com/life-of-pi-quotes-with-page-numbers/
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.