North American society could not have reached its state of high development and modernity had it not been an open society.

Memory is a snare, pure and simple; it alters, it subtly rearranges the past to fit the present.

Prosperity or egalitarianism -- you have to choose. I favor freedom -- you never achieve real equality anyway: you simply sacrifice prosperity for an illusion.

Like writing, reading is a protest against the insufficiencies of life.

Life is a shitstorm, in which art is our only umbrella." (spoken by character in a novel by Mario Vargas Llosa)

The secret to a masterpiece is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.

You cannot teach creativity - how to become a good writer. But you can help a young writer discover within himself what kind of writer he would like to be.

Its easy to know what you want to say, but not to say it

Writers are the exorcists of their own demons.

One can't fight with oneself, for this battle has only one loser.

No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.

Daring to make a difference in today's youth-one page at a time

Without desires and dreams, your thoughts do not matter and you can think whatever you want to.

A positive life can never come from a mind that dwells on repeated negative interpretations of its experiences.

I turned down twelve films last year... Huge money films, but I had no respect for the writer or the work.

I don't invest in what I don't understand. And I don't want to understand Facebook.

I studied opera, and when I left conservatory I told myself I would never sing in public again.

Actions speak louder than words, but words spur actions.

Yes, and I also like jumping out of tall buildings.

Power is no more than a part, no more than the tip of the iceberg of limitless profundity and sublimate of Karate.

Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to the U.S. The immigration guys kick the star out of my stardom.