Reading was such an enrichment of my life. And it was that pleasure that I had as a very young reader probably that is the origin of my vocation.

If you are killed because you are a writer, that's the maximum expression of respect, you know.

Like writing, reading is a protest against the insufficiencies of life.

I don't accept the idea that literature can be just entertainment and that there is no consequences of literature in the real world.

There is an incompatibility between literary creation and political activity.

You cannot teach creativity - how to become a good writer. But you can help a young writer discover within himself what kind of writer he would like to be.

That is one thing I am sure of amid my many uncertainties regarding the literary vocation: deep inside, a writer feels that writing is the best thing that ever happened to him, or could ever happen to him, because as far as he is concerned, writing is the best possible way of life, never mind the social, political, or financial rewards of what he might achieve through it.