Today, writing seems to me like an incredible luxury, almost a perversity, something which hardly exists in the world anymore, where you get to see the fruits of your actions in a daily way.

You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality.

As far as I'm concerned, if you want to find out about the last day of WWII or the roots of the Indian Mutiny, get thee to a books catalogue.

The past is always tense, the future perfect.

Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.

Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.

Don’t romanticise your ‘vocation’. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle’. All that matters is what you leave on the page.

Time is how you spend your love.

I am the sole author of the dictionary that defines me.

Don't confuse honours with achievement.

Pulchritude--beauty where you would least suspect it, hidden in a word that looked like it should signify a belch or a skin infection.

Every human is like all other humans, some other humans, and no other human.

Teaching means to show a person that something is possible.

God is well pleased when all our actions proceed from love, love to Himself, and love to immortal souls.

The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.

I am like my characters - sometimes even the female ones.

There's huge amounts of nonsense that goes with everything surrounding music and art. All the things you have to do promote yourself - there's huge amounts of nonsense.

To me, authentic love is a sacred encounter we all yearn for.

Vaccines are not traditionally big money makers. They're given once or a few times in one's life, so they're never going to be blockbusters.

Expand your references, and you'll immediately expand your life.

My family put a lot of emphasis on homework, so there weren't too many comic books or video games for me, when I was growing up.