I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised.

I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning.

Literature should be more revolutionary than revolutions themselves; writers must find the means to continue to be critical of the negative elements in the sociopolitical reality.

Today's interpretations of religion are often backward and contradict the needs of civilization.

I didn't make any money from my writing until much later. I published about 80 stories for nothing. I spent on literature.

There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see.