all stories are like those about the creation of the universe, no one was there, no one witnessed anything, yet everyone knows what happened.

This must be what it means to be a ghost, being certain that life exists, because your four senses say so, and yet unable to see it.

Can you imagine what Bush would say if someone like Hugo Chavez asked him for a little piece of land to install a military base, and he only wanted to plant a Venezuelan flag there?

I can't imagine myself outside any kind of social or political involvement. Yes, I'm a writer, but I live in this world, and my writing doesn't exist on a separate level. And if people know who I am and read my books, well, good; that way, if I have something more to say, then everyone benefits.

Writer's make national literature, while translators make universal literature.

The ear has to be educated if one wishes to appreciate musical sounds, just as the eyes must learn to distinguish the value of words.

Creating is always so much more stimulating than destroying.