She was one of those people who are irrevocably, incurably honest and therefore both inflexible and vulnerable at the same time.

I have a recurring fantasy that one more article has been added to the Bill of Rights: the right to free access to imagination.

With fear come the lies and the justifications that, no matter how convincing, lower our self-esteem.

Those in the west who dismiss the repressiveness of laws against women in countries like Iran, no matter how benign their intentions, present a condescending view not just of the religion but also of women living in Muslim majority countries, as if the desire for choice and happiness is the monopoly of women in the west.

Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fairy tale offers you freedoms that reality denies.

A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals, and creates enough space for all these characters to have a voice; in this way a novel is called democratic - not that it advocates democracy but that by nature it is so. Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels - the biggest sin is to be blind to others' problems and pains. Not seeing them means denying their existence.

She was one of those people who are irrevocably, incurably honest and therefore both inflexible and vulnerable at the same time.