I am restless. I don't mind leaving this comfortable, static life. I could live a year on my own in a remote village.

Night falls over Machu Picchu to the sound of Abba's 'Dancing Queen'.

I'm aware that, if you feel down, it can be strangely unrelated to circumstances around you. That's just the way life is.

I got my first lifetime achievement award years ago, and I was very excited, but then I got a sense of: Well, can one get a second lifetime award?

The Buddhist version of poverty is a situation where you have nothing to contribute.

I don't see why it should be remarkable that you can acquire a reputation for fairness and decency. Those are qualities shared by so many people. And the great majority of people I meet are decent people, just trying to navigate their way through the world without causing too much trouble.

I saw novelists as being admirable people and I thought... I thought... maybe, one day, I could be one of them.