Art should be on the side of humanity.

I don't want to be the one to tell somebody, You will not make it, even though I know that the majority of those who come to me with their manuscripts are not really good enough.

The writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of reeducation and regeneration that must be done. In fact, he should march right in front.

People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience.

Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too – If one says no to the other, let his wing break.

Each of my books is different. Deliberately... I wanted to create my society, my people, in their fullness.

I tell my students, it's not difficult to identify with somebody like yourself, somebody next door who looks like you. What's more difficult is to identify with someone you don't see, who's very far away, who's a different color, who eats a different kind of food. When you begin to do that then literature is really performing its wonders.