Poverty always looks the same, no matter where you come across it. The rich can always express their opulence by varying their lives. Different houses, clothes, cars. Or thoughts, dreams. But for the poor there is nothing but compulsory grayness, the only form of expression available to poverty.

One of the agonies of being an author is to know when to stop writing.

Justice doesn't only mean that the people who commit crime are punished. It also means that we can never give up seeking the truth.

I am not afraid of dying. I have lived longer than most people in the world. What scares me is to have a body that works but a brain that is waving goodbye. If that happens, I hope I die quickly.

Africa was the most exotic place I could conceive of - the end of the world - and I knew I would go there one day.

You think you know everything about a person, but the truth often comes as a surprise.

Children get acquainted with each other in a special way, they do not make contracts as adults, they believe each other or not. Childish friendships often end in violence. You may become an enemy all of a sudden as well as notice that you are someone's best friend.