Language as a communication tool is the primary element from which literature is created. Even in pre-literate societies, it exists as songs, riddles, or epics that are chanted.

When I wake up every morning, I thank God for the new day.

November is auspicious in so many parts of the country: the rice harvest is already in, the weather starts to cool, and the festive glow which precedes Christmas has began to brighten the landscape.

I have tried to be very rational, although I know love and hate are not rational and explained feelings.

Art, whatever form it takes, requires hard work, craftsmanship and creativity. As a writer, I know my grammar, cadence, the music of prose, and the art of the narrative.

All dictators, the rich and famous, to the lowest security guard who holds a gun, easily forget that power is transitory.

I have always admired teachers because teaching, like the priesthood, medicine and writing, is a vocation. You don't become a teacher because you want wealth. It is the same with writing.

The Japanese bureaucracy is unique. It is also very powerful, although it is now the object of so much criticism. Many of Japan's brightest made it a pillar of strength and continuity.

We are shallow because our media are so horribly shallow. Every morning, I peruse the papers, and there is so little to read in them. It is the same with radio - all that noise, that artifice.

We are shallow because we are 'mayabang, ' ego driven, and do not have the humility to understand that we are only human, much too human to mistake knowledge for wisdom.

Poetry is emotion, passion, love, grief - everything that is human. It is not for zombies by zombies.

If you create an environment of conflicts, I don’t think you will enjoy peace yourself.

The greater the fruit a tree bears, the greater the number of stones thrown at it.

The worship of Adonis is united with that of Christ.

I had fun coming every day and playing in front of a packed house - it was exciting.

Death hastens those who hasten death.

When you arrive in heaven, you will know that answering the call was worth it. Answering the call is always worth it.

I have been cautioned to talk but be careful not to say anything. I do not consider this a difficult task.

You know, after the film I said to myself, "It's a good thing you were so stupid not to be nervous. If I'd been nervous, it would have ruined the whole thing.

I wanted to jeopardize my own image. With my image I had already produced art pieces such as videos of photographs.

Truffles must come to the table in their own stock and as you break open this jewel sprung from a poverty-stricken soil, imagine - if you have never visited it - the desolate kingdom where it rules.