If you have to be careful because of oppression and censorship, this pressure produces diamonds.

In Russia, people suffer from the stillness of time.

People know that I am a very good author. But they would rather read what I have to say about the next election.

I don't want to deal with big, grand themes in my stories; art has nothing to do with themes. When you deal with themes, you are not creating; you are lecturing.

I have enough energy to insist on saying what I think.

I don't think people are fools, and I think they deserve a good attitude and smart entertainment.

Politics disappears; it vanishes. What remains constant is human life. So I try to develop a perspective in my writing where politics is just one of the pieces of furniture in this furnished world. It is not the purpose. It is not the goal.