I suffer from vertigo. It's paralyzing in extreme situations. The most scared I've been as an adult was trying to conquer that fear by going climbing in Wales.

I can see a version of my life where it all becomes meaningless. On a good day, writing seems noble. Other times, it's narcissistic and pointless.

I'm fascinated by the emergence of a global class. They're highly mobile; they reject the idea of place.

In my early teens, science fiction and fantasy had an almost-total hold over my imagination. Their outcast status was part of their appeal.

Intellectuals who live in Hungary, or who wish to work or lecture there, are extremely circumspect in their criticism.

There are still some terrible cliches in the presentation of Indian fiction. The lotus flower. The hennaed hands. In mainland Europe, people still slap these images on my books and I go bananas.

When I try to understand somebody, create a character, I fall into them. When I think writers are telling me what to think, I get harrumphy.

Critchley and Webster’s fierce, witty exploration of Hamlet makes most other writing about Shakespeare seem simpleminded.

There's an explosion of Indian fiction of all kinds, from military thrillers to chicklit. I think that's exciting.

Suburbia is all about private ownership and not having to share, and it leads to a paranoid, defensive mindset. I know this, having grown up in Essex.

Some books I've kept because the binding is beautiful - I'm unlikely ever to read my grandmother's copy of 'The Life of Lord Nelson.' I'm addicted to secondhand bookshops.

It's only when you find yourself that you will live authentically

Jesus teaches us to give richly, serve sacrificially, and love unconditionally.

To improve is to change to be perfect is to change often.

If you don't believe you don't belong

To glorify the cult of images (my great, my only, my earliest passion).

The mind of a child is where the Revolution begins.

There is no excuse for waste, fraud, and abuse in the Defense Department budget.

Rule number one is, don't sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it's all small stuff.

In law school they teach you that everything is a contract; well, in poetry everything is a narrative.

When you think of love do you think of pain?