[I]n communism, you'd threaten a dog into compliance, while in capitalism, obedience is obtained through bribes.

Use your imagination only on the future, never on the present or the past.

Where we are from... [s]tories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he'd be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.

Today, tomorrow," she said. "A day is nothing. A day is just a match you strike after the ten thousand matches before it have gone out.

I'd known that the visit would be highly scripted and that genuine interactions with citizens wouldn't be possible, since it's illegal for them to speak with foreigners. Still, I'd thought I'd had a unique look at North Korea, only to discover I was wrong.

I am a champion standing over the shadow of my former self.

But people do things to survive, and then after they survive, they can't live with what they've done.