I have hired a bodyguard, on the recommendation of my friends and the government. It's outrageous, having to live like this.

Painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight.

Heroic dreams are the consolation of the unhappy. After all, when people like us say we're being heroic, it usually means we're about to kill each other--or kill ourselves.

The sight of snow made her think how beautiful and short life is and how, in spite of all their enmities, people have so very much in common; measured against eternity and the greatness of creation, the world in which they lived was narrow. That's why snow drew people together. It was as if snow cast a veil over hatreds, greed, and wrath and made everyone feel close to one another. -- Snow pg 119

The snow reminded me of the beauty and mystery of creation, of the essential joy that is life.

The writers secret is not inspiration - for it is never clear where it comes from - it is his stubbornness, his patience.

The image that I remember most of all is of the Fenerbahçe players storming into the stadium before kickoff. They were called the canaries because of their yellow jerseys. It was as if they, like canaries, were fluttering into the stadium out of a hole. I loved it. It was poetry.