There is no alternative to the peaceful coexistence of cultures.

Free speech is not just free speech for people you admire. It's also for people who you think of as reprehensible.

In a novel, if you're any good, you don't just have good people or bad people. You have complicated people. You have real people.

Have you noticed the physical resemblance between Imran Khan and Gaddafi? If you were making a movie of the life of Gaddafi and you wanted a slightly better-looking version of Gaddafi, you might cast Imran Khan.

Vulnerability of artists is definitely what makes organizations like PEN necessary because, as I tried to argue, the actual work that writers and artists do has an ornery way of surviving. Particularly in this age of the internet, it is very easy for forbidden work to be found online somewhere if you know where to look. Artists themselves, however, are in increasing danger, and not just artists. The great concern is that year after year, rising numbers of journalists are being killed in pursuit of their work.

I do not need the idea of God to explain the world I live in.

One of the problems with defending free speech is you often have to defend people that you find to be outrageous and unpleasant and disgusting.