Literature seemed to be everything then. People looked to it for the strength to live, for guidance, for revelation.

I remember that during the period leading up to independence in Angola in 1975, I was the only correspondent there at all for three months.

The official independence celebration was going to be held over four or five days, and a group of journalists from all over the world was allowed to fly in, because Angola was closed otherwise.

Money changes all the iron rules into rubber bands.

My writing is a combination of three elements. The first is travel: not travel like a tourist, but travel as exploration. The second is reading literature on the subject. The third is reflection.

The tradition of Russian literature is also an eastern tradition of learning poetry and prose by heart.

Our salvation is in striving to achieve what we know we'll never achieve.

More than anything, one is struck by the light. Light everywhere. Brightness everywhere. Everywhere, the sun.

Photographing expresses human desire to preserve passing time. It is like a man struggling with time that elapses, and in general - a desire to preserve oneself.

In order to feel contempt, you generally need to cherish some kind of feelings.

Our job is like a baker's work - his rolls are tasty as long as they're fresh; after two days they're stale; after a week, they're covered with mould and fit only to be thrown out.

Conviction without experiences makes for harshness.

Military or dictatorial rule is not good for our Pakistan.

After all, we fought the Yanks in 1812 and kicked them the hell out of our country - but not with blanks.

You cannot poison what is between us with your foul words. She is my light in the darkness and Johnny is my pathway ahead.

Most acts of assent require far more courage than most acts of protest, since courage is clearly a readiness to risk self-humiliation.

There are always going to be jerks in the world . . . [but] there are more good people on this earth than bad people, and the good people watch out for each other and take care of each other.

The web is just going to be one more of those major change factors that businesses face every decade.

When I was a kid, they'd say, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" kids would go Wonder Woman, an astronaut. Do you know what I always said? World domination - so we're on our way.

I'm not glamorous, I don't have a look, I don't know anything about opera, I have no Italian, and I'm too old.