The best way to killing a rose is to force it open when it is still only the promise of a bud.

The world is governed by institutions that are not democratic - the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO.

I think we are blind, Blind but seeing, Blind people who can see, but do not see.

People live with the illusion that we have a democratic system, but it's only the outward form of one. In reality we live in a plutocracy, a government of the rich.

The novel is not so much a literary genre, but a literary space, like a sea that is filled by many rivers.

The U.S. needs to control the Middle East, the gateway to Asia. It already has military installations in Uzbekistan.

Words that come from the heart are never spoken, they get caught in the throat and can only be read in ones's eyes.

A journey never ends. Only the travellers end.

What kind of world is this that can send machines to Mars and does nothing to stop the killing of a human being?

We use words to understand each other and even, sometimes, to find each other.

No human being can achieve all he or she desires in this life except in dreams, so good night all.

Introversion at least if extreme is a sign of mental and spiritual immaturity.

Intelligence is usually easy to tell in a 10-minute conversation. Determination is harder.

The door to God is the insecurity of not knowing anything. Bear the grace of that uncertainty and all wisdom will be yours.

Here's a shock: An adult who still hangs out in skate parks is a bad parent.

There are worse places to be than on your own.

But I'm not afraid of the skeletons in Julie's closet. I look forward to meeting the rest of them, looking them hard in the eye, giving them firm, bone-crunching handshakes.

There's always a germ of truth in just about everything.

People have a right to be shocked; the mention of unmentionable things is a kind of participation in them.

The one thing I never questioned about my mother was whether she loved me.

Avarice is insatiable, and is always pushing on for more.