Exile as a mode of genius no longer exists; in place of Joyce we have the fragments of work appearing in Index on Censorship.

In a certain sense a writer is 'selected' by his subject - his subject being the consciousness of his own era.

Humans, the only self-regarding animals, blessed or cursed with this torturing higher faculty, have always wanted to know why.

I believe - I know (there are not many things I should care to dogmatize about, on the subject of writing) that writers need solitude, and seek alienation of a kind every day of their working lives. (And remember, they are not even aware when and when not they are working.) ... The tension between standing apart and being fully involved; that is what makes a writer.

A truly living human being cannot remain neutral.

The Communist Party is very popular in South Africa, especially among the young people. Never having had a chance to travel, and having suffered so much under capitalism, they still can't believe that the Russian people themselves have rejected it.

Certainly the people who are close to me are happier. They feel freer.