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

The Republicans were not always insane. They might've had politics I didn't agree with, but they weren't always actually certifiable.

If Islam is to be reconciled with modernity, these voices must be encouraged until they swell into a roar.

If you want to tell the untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got to find a language. Which goes for film as well as prose, for documentary as well as autobiography. Use the wrong language, and you're dumb and blind.

Every time you finish a book, you have a terrible feeling that there's just never going to be another one. But fortunately, so far, the next one has always shown up.

Be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours.

Religion is responsible for a lot of the problems in the history of the world and it's not something that I practice or recommend, but to each his own.