'The Satanic Verses' was denied the ordinary life of a novel. It became something smaller and uglier: an insult.

Not all possibilities are open to us. The world is finite; our hopes spill over its rim.

Once you put a thought into the world, it can be disagreed with, but it can't be unthought.

The only people who see the whole picture,' he murmured, 'are the ones who step out of the frame.

For a fellow who's not to much to look at, you have the instincts of a champion.

I'm no friend of Tony Blair's and I consider the Middle East policies of the United States and the UK fatal.

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