My books are about losers, about people who've lost their way and are engaged in a search.

The most important basis of any novel is wanting to be someone else, and this means creating a character.

There are some fundamental values it's impossible to be wrong about.

It's very useful when politicians have doubts because there are so many choices to be made in the world.

Perfection spawns doctrines, dictators and totalitarian ideas.

My books are about losers, about people who've lost their way and are engaged in a search.

Eco sees the intellectual as an organizer of culture, someone who can run a magazine or a museum. An administrator, in fact. I think this is a melancholy situation for an intellectual.