Sometimes legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts.

[My work] is a love song to our mongrel selves.

I've never seen anywhere in the world as beautiful as Kashmir. It has something to do with the fact that the valley is very small and the mountains are very big, so you have this miniature countryside surrounded by the Himalayas, and it's just spectacular. And it's true, the people are very beautiful too.

It's so disappointing, to put it mildly, that people know so much about my life. Because it means that they're always trying to look at my books in terms of my life.

I admit it: above all things, I fear absurdity.

Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence.

The West sees Iran as an important force in the gulf.