Good writing is good writing, and I'm so happy when I read it.

Being a teacher at a restaurant in the town where you lived was a little like being a TV star.

While it's true that some writers, when taking on love and war, find the task too big, or only succeed in one but not the other, Mengestu tracks both themes with authority and feeling.

You had only one chance for a signature in life, but most people left no impression.

The child who was happy with herself meant the parents had won the jackpot.

For me, a novel relying too heavily on a single idea might be a dry, deadly thing unless it possesses an animating force.

People like to warn you that by the time you reach the middle of your life, passion will begin to feel like a meal eaten long ago, which you remember with great tenderness.

After a certain age, you felt a need not to be alone. It grew stronger, like a radio frequency, until finally it was so powerful that you were forced to do something about it.

Wasn't the whole point of being an artist, or at least part of it, that you didn't have to wear a tie?

The generation that had information, but no context. Butter, but no bread. Craving, but no longing.

But clearly life took people and shook them around until finally they were unrecognizable even to those who had once known them well. Still, there was power in once having known someone.

It isn't necessary to have relatives in Kansas City in order to be unhappy.

Laughter is like a windshield wiper, it doesn't stop the rain but allows us to keep going.

The choices we make determines our destiny.

Self-acceptance is self-love in action.

I'm tired of being alone, and fighting my battles alone.

Actions don't only speak louder than words; actions should be used to interpret words.

I am not one of the people who believe that the main reason why a chap becomes a bookmaker is because he is too scared to steal and too heavy to become a jockey.

I don't have big muscles. I'm not tall. I have power inside. I fight.

Bit parts in Mediocre TV shows won't develop your acting chops.

Hard toil can roughen form and face, And want call quench the eye's bright grace.