The Mexicans descend from the Aztecs; the Peruvians descend from the Incas; the Argentineans descend from the boats.

I need, therefore I imagine.

Death is the great Maecenas, Death is the great angel of writing. You must write because you are not going to live any more.

I’ve been thrashed by the critics. I love having critics for breakfast. I’ve been having them for 30 years in Mexico - just eating them like chicken and then throwing the bones away. They have not survived, I have!

When we have a better, more social, more responsible, less egotistical, less corrupt system, Mexico will be able to give work to the millions of Mexicans who have to build our roads, dams, schools, all the things that are left undone in Mexico while we have the manpower. There is something very bad going on, on both sides of the border in Mexico and the US. But the worker is a worker, not a criminal. So, I am in favor of a solution such as the Kennedy-McCain proposals that make it clear what steps have to be taken to accept the fact that the US needs foreign workers.

By its very nature, the novel indicates that we are becoming. There is no final solution. There is no last word.

I live through risk. Without risk there is no art. You should always be on the edge of a cliff about to fall down and break your neck.