There's a lot of things we could do better.

I'm a straightforward person. I like to be direct with people.

I don't see (subprime mortgage market troubles) imposing a serious problem. I think it's going to be largely contained.

It's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation.

Our overriding goal in restructuring our financial architecture should be that taxpayers never again have to save a failing financial institution.

There's always light at the end of the tunnel, right? It just depends on how long the tunnel is.

I never once considered that it was appropriate to put taxpayer money on the line in resolving Lehman Brothers.

In just about every area of society, there's nothing more important than ethics.

Economic growth and environmental protection are not at odds. They're opposite sides of the same coin if you're looking at longer-term prosperity.

Every global concern - economic, environmental or security-related - can be addressed more effectively when the U.S. and China work together.

Regulation needs to catch up with innovation.

If you can't love me in my rugs, you don't deserve me in my riches

Republican presidents talk about freedom. Democratic presidents talk about equality.

If you are friends with the wrong people, Google+ autocorrects them

Completeness is rare in history.

Fiction structures an experience for the reader to live through. ... That is why people read: to have experiences.

I write five, six days a week. The thing is capturing the voice. I feel like I've been perfecting one voice - in different iterations, sure, but the Russian-ness has always been the undercurrent.

Each man must reach his own verdict, by weighing all the relevant evidence.

Satisfying curiosity ranks No. 2 in my book behind conquering a fear.

You have to get to the worst to get better.

Getting involved is so, so . . . involving.