I have been fortunate. I have done so many things and enjoyed so many things and had such a great life, not to imply that it is ending, but that there aren't many things that I feel I have left undone.

Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?

People do things that turn out badly, often for the most benevolent of reasons.

Genius disregards the boundaries of propriety. Genius is permitted to shout if shouting is productive.

I think I've written 40 books, and none of them have been heavy on action. I'm an introspective person.

The whole world had changed. Only the fairy tales remained the same. "And they lived happily ever after.

Submitting to censorship is to enter the seductive world of 'The Giver': the world where there are no bad words and no bad deeds. But it is also the world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.