One of the extraordinary things about human events is that the unthinkable becomes thinkable.

Bin Laden was born filthy rich and died in a rich man's house, which he had painstakingly built to the highest specifications.

Five mysteries hold the keys to the unseen: the act of love, and the birth of a baby, and the contemplation of great art, and being in the presence of death or disaster, and hearing the human voice lifted in song.

My first novel - the novel I wrote before 'Midnight's Children' - feels, to me, now, very - I mean, I get embarrassed when I see people reading it. You know, there are some people who, bizarrely, like it. Which I'm, you know, I'm happy for.

The only way to find out why someone decides to engage in armed combat is to look at their individual personality.

A man is sane only to the extent that he subscribes to a previously-agreed construction of reality.

A sigh isn't just a sigh. We inhale the world and breathe out meaning. While we can. While we can.