A writer should always bravely face life, risking death and mutilation in order to dethrone an emperor.

I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.

For a country boy, poor as I was, whose constant worry was to be able to have enough to eat, the Army guaranteed one's survival.

One of the biggest problems in literature is the lack of subtlety.

When someone forces me to do something I don't do it.

I have always been independent. I like it that way. When someone forces me to do something, I don't do it.

I'll continue on the path I've been taking, feet on the ground, describing people's lives, describing people's emotions, writing from the standpoint of the ordinary people.