I love Sufism as I love beautiful poetry, but it is not the answer. Sufism is like a mirage in the desert. It says to you, come and sit, relax and enjoy yourself for a while.

Visit me once each year, for it's wrong to abandon people forever.

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

My countrymen have the right to shake my hand and talk to me if they so wish. Don't forget that their support and their reading of my works is what brought me the Nobel prize.

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.

Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life.

I believe society has a right to defend itself, just as the individual has the right to attack that with which he disagrees.