One of the mistakes the Germans made ... was that they were not brave enough to be afraid.

What makes books - and with them writers - so dangerous that church and state, politburos and the mass media feel the need to oppose them?

Art is accusation, expression, passion. Art is black charcoal crushing white paper.

Everyone is born into a certain era. I wouldn't want to see anyone faced with the circumstances that prevailed at the time, when there were few or no alternatives.

When the young woman leans over the sky, about to water the flowers as well as the weeds, her white front splits open until her milk runs.

And when the sun goes down and the mood comes upon me, I'll watch the play of the colors on the water, yield to the fleetly dissolving images, and turn into pure feeling, all soft and nice.

An empty bus hurtles through the starry night Perhaps the driver is singing and happy because he sings.