It's a sin for a writer to go looking for camels to put into his or her pages. I only want details that are the story.

One cannot distinguish between human and non-human acts. One cannot point, one cannot say this man here is a man and that man there is a devil.

You have to attempt to find new forms that will force you to write freshly and better and hopefully more truthfully.

A good book ... leaves you wanting to reread the book. A great book compels you to reread your own soul.

We have a very foolish notion in Western countries that progress delivers freedom. But progress doesn't necessarily bring moral virtue.

I think sometimes writers must attempt to communicate the incommunicable, because, whether they wish it or not, they're the ones to whom it falls.

I had some bad jobs when I was young. Writing is not one of them. If you're fortunate enough to reach my age, to still be writing, you have to be grateful, and I am. I've been lucky. For many years, all I've done is writing, and it's all I've ever wanted to do.