The world is full of things that upset people. But most of us deal with it and move on and don't try and burn the planet down.

We who have grown up on a diet of honour and shame can still grasp what must seem unthinkable to people living in the aftermath of the death of God and of tragedy: that men will sacrifice their dearest love on the implacable altars of their pride.

Everything has shape, if you look for it. There is no escape from form.

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

In spite of all evidence that life is discontinuous, a valley of rifts, and that random chance plays a great part in our fates, we go on believing in the continuity of things, in causation and meaning. But we live on a broken mirror, and fresh cracks appear in its surface every day.

Prophet Mohammed would have no objection to The Satanic Verses.

If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.