Children are the only brave philosophers. And brave philosophers are, inevitably, children.

We comes from God, I from the Devil.

The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing is - to bloom. (“A Story About The Most Important Thing”)

The nights were long, like the braids of a pretty girl, and the days were short, like a girl's sense. ("The North")

Heretics are the only bitter remedy against the entropy of human thought.

True literature can exist only where it is created, not by diligent and trustworthy functionaries, but by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics.

A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth reading.

Those two, in paradise, were given a choice: happiness without freedom, or freedom without happiness. There was no third alternative.

Literature is painting, architecture, and music.

There is no final one; revolutions are infinite.

We need writers who fear nothing. ("Our Goal")

I only found myself when I stopped looking. . .

Don’t doubt your dreams.

I like geography best, he said, because your mountains & rivers know the secret. Pay no attention to boundaries.

Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.

A bad system will beat a good person every time.

The Big Bang theory says nothing about what banged, why it banged, or what happened before it banged.

I don't think the 'what' distinguishes a good novel from a bad one but rather the 'how.'

Life never become a habit to me. It's always a marvel.

I'm an old storyteller. I tell the story. It's about the story.

One hearty laugh together will bring enemies into a closer communion of heart than hours spent on both sides in inward wrestling with the mental demon of uncharitable feeling.