And really the purpose of art - for me, fiction - is to alert, to indicate to stop, to say: Make certain that when you rush through you will not miss the moment which you might have had, or might still have.

Can the imagination, any more than the boy, be held prisoner ?" - from the foreword to the 1976 edition of "The Painted Bird

I am inspired by human sexuality. The act itself is mechanical and holds little interest to me.

My choice of a life of adventure may well have been a result of the fact that action raised my blood pressure giving me enough energy to live.

It seems that what I really want is a drug that will increase my consciousness of others, not myself.

I look back into past history, the stored experiences or products of the imagination. I look no further forward than the evening.

I can create countries just as I can create the actions of my characters. That is why a lot of travel seems to me a waste of time.