For me, writing [was] a question of survival...I could not trust anyone, even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned. People even in your own family could turn you in.

Dreams are more real than reality itself, they're closer to the self.

Writing eases my suffering . . . writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.

Walk where your heart leads you, there are no restrictions and no burdens.

If you want to do anything, do it now, without compromise or concession, because you have only one life.

Observing humans and observing oneself yields a clear-minded starting point for literature.

Loneliness is a prerequisite for freedom. Freedom depends on the ability to reflect, and reflection can only begin when one is alone.

It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth.

Love is so holy, so confusing. It makes a man anxious, tormented. Love, how can I define it?

I don't want to be a strong hero who can save society. I just want to save myself.

A good work can be communicated across languages ... [provided one does not] fall into the trap of narrow-minded nationalistic or chauvinistic thinking.

It must be October, the trees are falling away and showing their true colors.

Eko brushed a tear from her eye, and Immo jeered at her, but father held up a hand. "Never mock a tender heart, " he said.

Artillery adds dignity, to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl.

When I was younger I was completely without money - when I was studying in Budapest, when I was a refugee

Nothingness not being nothing, nothingness being emptiness.

I've been compared to people since the beginning. When you're starting out, you need a comparison so people will understand you right away.

Fame is fickle, but Obscurity is usually faithful to the end.

I smoked my first cigar in 1991, when we won the championship. Up to that point, I had never smoked a cigar, never smoked anything.

All Juleps are made for present use, and therefore it is in vain to speak of their duration.

The moral difference between a soldier and a civilian is that the soldier accepts personal responsibility for the safety of the body politic of which he is a member. The civilian does not.