If the crowd disperses, goes home, does not reassemble, we say the revolution is over.

Literature seemed to be everything then. People looked to it for the strength to live, for guidance, for revelation.

More than anything, one is struck by the light. Light everywhere. Brightness everywhere. Everywhere, the sun.

The official independence celebration was going to be held over four or five days, and a group of journalists from all over the world was allowed to fly in, because Angola was closed otherwise.

There is a lack of critical assessment of the past. But you have to understand that the current ruling elite is actually the old ruling elite. So they are incapable of a self-critical approach to the past.

In the Russian experience, although the Russian state is oppressive, it is their state, it is part of their fabric, and so the relation between Russian citizens and their state is complicated.

My writing is a combination of three elements. The first is travel: not travel like a tourist, but travel as exploration. The second is reading literature on the subject. The third is reflection.