I'm trying to give people an idea of what black looks like and what white looks like before I introduce them to gray.

There's nothing about interdependence that would keep somebody from making art.

A white person was by definition somebody. Other people needed, across their hearts, one steel rib.

Chinese language tends to be quick, economical. To know what people are saying, you always need to know what the context is.

When I think about why I would be a writer, why I should continue to be a writer, it seems to me one of the few things you can dowhere you're never bored.

That there should be a purpose to suffering, that a person should be chosen for it, special - these are houses of the mind, in which whole peoples have found shelter.

... there is ... a big aspect of play in writing novels, and making the story more and more elaborate is just more and more fun.