Botswana is actually very peaceful. It's democratic. It never was in debt. They've been fortunate, they've had diamonds.

Talking about pumpkins doesn't make them grow.

Every small wrong, every minor act of cruelty, every act of petty bullying was symbolic of a greater wrong. And if we ignored these small things, then did it not blunt our outrage over the larger wrongs?

When you allow people to do what they wish, then that is what they do. They stop doing the things they need to do.

How many of us are happy to be exactly where we are at any moment?...only the completely happy think that they are in the correct place.

I just focus on getting the first scene right, with a few lines about the overall plot, and then the book grows organically.

It's through the small things that we develop our moral imagination, so that we can understand the sufferings of others.