Sometimes I write well when I'm very upset.

I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts.

Whoever would write books? It's suffering as well as greatly satisfying. And certainly there's suffering in the sense that you don't know for a long time how to do it.

We still have so many cultures in which people are imprisoned and whipped and killed for writing what they think.

In many cultures, women are sometimes literally kept from learning to read or from going to school.

There's the belief that we can't be smart enough to write. And certainly censorship of women, too.

You have to write fiction that mirrors the actual world, which has people of all sorts in it.

I heard a white writer say, 'Oh, I'd never put black people in my writing, I'm afraid I would offend someone by doing it wrong.' I can't bear that!

There is a lot of censorship about writing that's exerted from all directions, from families or governments and society, even the fear of being offensive in some way.

Little children are all writers.

I love it when people can help me with my work, so I do show it.

There is no 'way to peace, ' there is only 'peace.

In any power game, it seems, the dominant party is the least likely to be aware of what is going on.

Taking actions will fulfill your dreams and wishes, not the prayers and blessings.

Wondering and writing constitute positive madness.

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

It took a while for me to grasp that my colleagues believe I have made an impact on the history of cinema.

I believe that present day civilized man suffers from insufficient discharge of his aggressive drive

Tell what is yours to tell. Let others tell what is theirs.

Love will fly if held too lightly Love will die if held too tightly . . .