I think young children in the Western middle classes are objects of incredible anxiety.

People do not change, they are merely revealed.

Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn't matter how "real" your story is, or how "made up": what matters is its necessity.

God, I hate my family, these people I never chose to love, but love all the same.

We do not always like the people we love- we do not always have that choice.

I have no place left to live but in my own heart.

The way to write a book is to actually write a book. A pen is useful, typing is also good. Keep putting words on the page.

I’m really lucky with the people around me. They know me, so they don’t confuse the issues really. They know what a book is and they know who I am and they know the difference between the two.

There are men who would do anything, asleep, and I'm not sure what stops them when they wake. I do not know how they draw the line.

Description is hard. Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand.

Enemies are people who's story you haven't heard, or who's face you haven't seen.

I believe history is a circle, made by men who don't learn from their mistakes.

Philanthropy is involved with basic innovations that transform society, not simply maintaining the status quo or filling basic social needs that were formerly the province of the public sector.

Forget what others whisper in your ears. Most of that is pure rubbish that obstructs the view to what really is important. Always make your own decisions. That is what makes us human.

As civilization advances, man grows unconscious of the primitive elements of life; he is separated from them by his perfection of material techniques.

To help people in the third world get educated and learn how to read and write is so important. I mean it is such an important human right.

If people think I look good, it's the make-up.

I'm willing to forgive the press, or forgive anybody,I was taught to love and forgive,which I do have in my heart,but please don't believe these crazy, horrifying things.

The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood [p. 53]

I invite you, from my sentiments, my convictions and my responsibilities, to work together in the construction of a Uruguay where being young is not suspicious, where aging is not a problem.