I used to say, 'There is a God-shaped hole in me.' For a long time I stressed the absence, the hole. Now I find it is the shape which has become more important.

If you actually want to change your world, there is a better way of doing it than blowing yourself up.

In the end, the thing that's important about free expression is that it's the right from which all other rights are derived. If you can't articulate ideas and if you can't articulate critiques of other peoples' ideas, then you're powerless. What always increases the power of an authoritarian regime is whether it can successfully prevent people from expressing themselves.

I think that England made a very big, historical mistake to allow itself to become the kind of terrorist capital of the world.

Writers have an opinion about the world and offer arguments about the world. They should offer contemplation.

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.

In today's US, it's possible for almost anyone - women, gays, African-Americans, Jews - to run for, and be elected to, high office.