I don't know what to say about literary critics. I think it's probably best to say nothing.

Dissensions between Muslim nations run at least as deep, if not deeper, than those nations' resentment of the West.

Our lives are not what we deserve; they are, let us agree, in many ways deficient.

No story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old.

Certainly, the Hollywood cinema, there's almost nothing of interest coming out of there.

If you have children you worry about the world you're leaving them.

Certainly, poverty and economic decline have a lot to do with the so-called rage of Islam. You've got all these young men in countries which are economically in bad shape. The idea that they might be able to make a good living and get married and have a family, a decent life, seems very remote to a lot of people in a lot of the world.