Life is lived forward but is judged in reverse.

The frustrating part of being tagged 'controversial' is people go looking for trouble where there isn't any to look for.

I did a lot of student acting when I was young.

I fell victim to the temptation of every autobiographer, to the illusion that since the past exists only in one's memories and the words which strive vainly to encapsulate them, it is possible to create past events simply by saying they occurred.

I learned: the first lesson of my life: nobody can face the world with his eyes open all the time.

I believe in the art of literature, I believe in freedom of the imagination, I believe in the kind of liberties that we enjoy in these lucky countries of the world.

Once you have been in an earthquake you know, even if you survive without a scratch, that like a stroke in the heart, it remains in the earth's breast, horribly potential, always promising to return, to hit you again, with an even more devastating force.