  Lasell and Ramachandran show that the existence of rational curves of
positive self-intersection on a smooth projective surface $X$ implies that all
the finite dimensional linear representations of the fundamental group
$\pi_1(X)$ are finite. In this article, we generalize Lasell and Ramachandran's
result to the case of $\pi_1$-small divisors on quasiprojective varieties. We
also study $\pi_1$-small curves and hyperbolicity properties of smooth
projective surfaces of general type with infinite fundamental groups.
