That's a huge subject - a writer refusing to do publicity but writing about publicity.

I always hesitate to say that something is lifelike.

The truth is, just to hear other people speaking Italian is really worth it. It keeps the sound in your ear.

It's one of the hardest things to translate anything that's not standard.

I have very strict rules in my head that seem to me to be the way things should sound.

I think that physical actions are always hard to describe, to translate.

One naturally identifies to some extent with an "I" female narrator going through something that you recognize whether you've gone through it or not.

To have the translator be a figure in the book's presentation seems like a big thing, especially for a book that's really popular.

I tend to be kind of literal about translation. I think it's important to present the writer as closely as possible.

The greatest weapon that one can have is a simple...smile.

Family life was wonderful. The streets were bleak. The playgrounds were bleak. But home was always warm. My mother and father had a great relationship. I always felt 'safe' there.

When punk really started to happen, it was a reaction against the disco craze of the time.

I could have a roomful of awards and it wouldn't mean beans

We have no hope and yet we live in longing.

You take insult where none is intended, but if you will find insult where none is meant, then perhaps I should try harder to insult on purpose.

When you're young, everything seems like a romance. At 96, I can still feel romantic about publishing young unknown writers.

The United Nations has become a largely irrelevant, if not positively destructive institution, and the just-released U.N. report on the atrocities in Darfur, Sudan, proves the point.

The major wars that the U.S. became involved in are all ethically defensible.

The next 10 to 20 years will bring Native cultural expressions to the body of Christ that will be a tremendous blessing to many.