I think having the knowledge, plus the experiences you've lived through, make you definitely not fragile. They make you brave.

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.

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

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.

You know what? I'm an artist. I'm an artist and I'm gonna make art, arty art art!

God of great miracles.God of great mercies.

As we give the gifts of compassion and humility, our lives become demonstrations of the truth of God's Word.

I can no more reread my own books than I can watch old home movies or look at snapshots of myself as a child. I wind up sitting on the floor, paralyzed by grief and nostalgia.

Universal deities ... never seem to smile. Not in any culture. What's the point of having omnipotence if you don't enjoy it?

Everyone you know and all the people you meet have the potential to be someone important in the lives of others.

If by some fiat I had to restrict all this writing to one sentence, this is the one I would choose: The summit of Mt. Everest is marine limestone.

We only appreciate the comforts of life in their loss.

Wars are always madness: all is lost in war, all is to be gained in peace.

[B]eyond poverty, beyond the point that the material needs are reasonably satisfied, only from within is peace.