In our time, we have become too interested in the artist and his or her character and experience as a way of understanding art. In my view, you should be able to read a book or see a film without knowing a single thing about conditions or circumstances or character of the artist, and experience the work to the full without such information. Sometimes I feel - speaking for myself - that people know much too much about me, and I wish people knew less and could just read these books and respond to them purely as words on a page.

The history of a culture can be determined by its untranslatable words.

And so it is they who, between them, give me all the reasons for believing in none.

If I were asked for a one-sentence sound bite on religion, I would say I was against it.

I've never read anything so badly written that got published. It made 'Twilight' look like 'War and Peace.'

There is no magic on earth strong enough to wipe out the legacies of one's parents.

Unless, of course, there's no such thing as chance;...in which case, we should either-optimistically-get up and cheer, because if everything is planned in advance, then we all have a meaning and are spared the terror of knowing ourselves to be random, without a why; or else, of course, we might-as pessimists-give up right here and now, understanding the futility of thought decision action, since nothing we think makes any difference anyway, things will be as they will. Where, then, is optimism? In fate or in chaos?