If Turkey wants to join Europe, it will have to become a European country, and that might take a long time.

Without water we are nothing", the traveler thought. "Even an emperor, denied water, would swiftly turn to dust. Water is the real monarch and we are all its slaves.

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.

One of the things I know from the study of history is that history surprises you. History is not written. It's not inevitable.The victory of evil is not certain.

You start at the stupid end of the book, and if you're lucky you finish at the smart end.

Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.

I don't think people cry reading 'Midnight's Children,' but a lot of people seem to cry watching the movie.