Wonder - the sensation of being whisked out of time and space...to be bathed in ... epiphanous delight.

Those are the two things: a sense of loving and being loved, and being creative - that is what life is made up of, and what literature reminds us of.

I think it is an important question of our lives - what is the meaning of literature to us as humans.

It is terribly important to maintain a national identity in a way that it probably wasn't before.

You turn your life into a work of art in order to redeem the ordinariness - a condition you are stuck with.

A form of art that I like is portraiture. I've been thinking about portraiture, and its relationship to writing and literature, biography and autobiography, and so that will be my next thing.

[Anton] Chekhov is the most produced playwright in the world after Shakespeare, and most of the people in my sort of audience would have seen at least one of his plays.

Every time you watch a performance in the theatre, you know that this is just for you, and will never be the same again. It is quite exciting for me.

The Odyssey and Iliad say things about the human condition in ways we should re-acquaint ourselves with, and use as a prism to interpret though.

In the theatre, you are in love with what is on the stage, with the moment. You just don't get that with movies or videos, or TV, where you know that what you are seeing is repeatable.

One has to choose a word in English. If you want to be eligible for a literary prize you have to designate it as something.

I love going to writers' colonies in pastoral settings where there's nothing to do, but either walk around or read a book or work on your book.

Nature is indifferent to our love, but never unfaithful.

Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless.

He sobbed in desperation at the burden of fear he carried with him every day of his life.

Men's minds tend to fear more keenly those things that are absent.

Denial: my family heritage. If you don't ask the questions, the truth will never inconvenience you.

I'm a coward, I didn't want to die.

The Lord took twice the time making thee, Alvin Smith, cause it took that long to put the mischief in.

When you are ready to make your first hires, look for people who understand your passion, want to add to your ideas and can envision ways to make improvements.

The days will always be brighter because he existed. The nights will always be darker because he's gone.