Ignorantly is how we all fall in love; for it is a kind of fall. Closing our eyes, we leap from that cliff in hope of a soft landing. Nor is it always soft; but still, without that leap nobody comes to life.

I determined to make my peace with Islam, even at the cost of my pride. Those who were surprised and displeased by what I did perhaps failed to see that ... I wanted to make peace between the warring halves of the world, which were also the warring halves of my soul.

Science fiction is where I started out, really. When I was a kid, I was a complete addict of science fiction. It was one of my earliest interests as a writer, and I've just taken a long time to circle back around to it.

The world is about the way in which our dreams intersect with our real life. Endlessly, the world of the imagination changes the world.

Literature is the one place in any society where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way.

It's obvious that I come down on the side of free speech for anybody's work.

Too many people had spent too long demonizing or totemizing me to listen seriously to what I had to say.