People move forward into the future out of the way they comprehend the past. When we don't understand something in our past, we are therefore crippled.

The contradictory remarks of politicians are forgotten; the more asinine predictions of pundits are buried with mercy.

Tough guys don't dance. You had better believe it.

I do believe that America's deepest political sickness is that it is a self-righteous nation.

We are in love with the word. We are proud of it. The word precedes the formation of the state. The word comes to us from every avatar of early human existence. As writers, we are obliged more than others to keep our lives attached to the primitive power of the word. From India, out of the Vedas, we still hear: On the spoken word, all the gods depend, all beasts and men; in the world live all creatures...The word is the name of the divine world.

I'm a great believer in the hereafter, in karma, in reincarnation. It does make sense. I believe that God is not just a law-giver, but a creative artist. The greatest of all. And what characterises artists is that they want to redo their work. Maybe it didn't come off perfectly, so they want to see it done again, and improved. Reincarnation is a way for God to improve his earlier works.

When a novel comes, it's a grace. Something in the cosmos has forgiven you long enough so that you can start.