It is difficult to understand these people who democratically take part in elections and a referendum, but are then incapable of democratically accepting the will of the people.

The world is governed by institutions that are not democratic - the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO.

I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.

People live with the illusion that we have a democratic system, but it's only the outward form of one. In reality we live in a plutocracy, a government of the rich.

The novel is not so much a literary genre, but a literary space, like a sea that is filled by many rivers.

The U.S. needs to control the Middle East, the gateway to Asia. It already has military installations in Uzbekistan.

Words that come from the heart are never spoken, they get caught in the throat and can only be read in ones's eyes.

A journey never ends. Only the travellers end.

What kind of world is this that can send machines to Mars and does nothing to stop the killing of a human being?

We use words to understand each other and even, sometimes, to find each other.

No human being can achieve all he or she desires in this life except in dreams, so good night all.

Altogether, the first glimpse of his bride-which should have come as no surprise to Alex, standing there looking so lean and handsome himself-nearly brought him to his knees.

Beware 'good' main characters who have a limited repertory of culturally acceptable feelings, while your evil bastards have a full range of vivid, passionate feelings.

A good liar knows that the most efficient lie is always a truth that has had a key piece removed from it.

I was a member of the Politburo for seven years, a foreign minister.

I'm able to sometimes express things even more articulately on the piano than I am with singing.

Seek first the Kingdom of God: that is, the first order of business is to transform one's own inner life, not the accumulation of external trappings of speculative knowledge.

We are trying to communicate that which lies in our deepest heart, which has no words, which can only be hinted at through the means of a story.

What are movies for if not to have the good guys triumph over the bad ones?

I don't blame people for their mistakes, but I do ask that they pay for them.

When I buy a Nikon camera, I have no tolerance for the instructions. I'm ready to make some mistakes using it and get some bad pictures back until I've figured it out for myself.