Africans need to be kicked, that's the only thing they understand.

That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is my way of judging what I am doing - which is never an easy thing to do.

The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.

One isn’t born one’s self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people’s ideas – and you have to work through it all.

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.

It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts. That's where everything starts unravelling.

The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.

Home is, I suppose just a child's idea. A house at night, and a lamp in the house. A place to feel safe.

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

The world is always in movement.

All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid out for us, but the mystery of the writing will remain. No amount of documentation, however fascinating, can take us there.

My words are the garment of what I shall never be Like the tucked sleeve of a one-armed boy.

There is always space for improvement, no matter how long you've been in the business.

I believe that everyone can appreciate the right of a family to grieve the loss of a loved one in peace, regardless of anyone's position on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Flying is such a joy. You just want to hoot.

The health and vigor necessary for the practice of what is good, depend equally on both mind and body.

It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated; far more difficult to sacrifice skill and easy execution in the proper place, than to expand both indiscriminately.

External silence helps to achieve inner Silence.

We are reluctant to let go of the belief that if I am to care for something I must control it.

Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No, but I do it anyway because it’s sterile and I like the taste.

It is not night when I do see your face.