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

I accepted the interviews and encounters that had to be held with the media, but I would have preferred to work in peace.

The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level.

I found myself in a sea in which the waves of joy and sorrow were clashing against each other.

It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.

I've never worked in politics, never been a member of an official committee or a political party.

We are passing through a very sensitive time, and on the whole, this country is facing very big problems.