What's the use of stories that aren't even true?

What happened in Pakistan was that people were told: You're all Muslim, so now you're a country. As we saw in 1971 with the Bangladesh secession, the answer to that was: 'Oh no, we're not.'

I think that England made a very big, historical mistake to allow itself to become the kind of terrorist capital of the world.

Go for broke. Always try and do too much. Dispense with safety nets. Take a deep breath before you begin talking. Aim for the stars. Keep grinning. Be bloody-minded. Argue with the world. And never forget that writing is as close as we get to keeping a hold on the thousand and one things--childhood, certainties, cities, doubts, dreams, instants, phrases, parents, loves--that go on slipping , like sand, through our fingers.

Reality is a question of perspective.

I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.

I'm not saying I am never going to fall in love again, but there is no need to marry.