I think the recent cluster of WWII novels is so good because we have reached an optimal distance from the war. Just as a lens has its focal length, the novel also has its best distance from the action.

I think that there's something extremely beautiful about the Olympic ideal and its motto - 'Swifter, higher, stronger' - it's such a beautiful motto, and it celebrates everything which is the antithesis of death and dissolution and entropy.

I know that the hopes of this whole human world can fit inside one soul.

That is the trouble with happiness-all of it is built on top of something that men want.

I think the recent cluster of WWII novels is so good because we have reached an optimal distance from the war. Just as a lens has its focal length, the novel also has its best distance from the action.

If I could not smile, I think my situation would be even more serious.

The ways in which we are able to express courage also depend on the hand life deals us.