As a writer, I am an intellectual. I believe in the ideals of the Enlightenment, I believe in the written word, in dialogue and in truth. I hate lies more than anything else. Most of the time I react by writing.

He was so excessively polite that Wallendar suspected he had endured many humiliations in his life.

I think my Wallander stories give a fairly good image of the world in the 1990s. I don't regret anything about that - on the contrary!

The evil always comes from details.

It’s only when we can work with something that brings out our strengths that we’re of any real use.

When someone asks me to list the 10 best novels ever written, I always refuse to answer.

Our exile organizations have been our way of replacing the cities and villages we have lost.