I saw Chungking for the first time more than 40 years ago - a city of hills and mists, of grays and lavenders, two rivers shaping it to a point and the cliff rising above me like a challenge.

I, alas, must present myself somewhat ignominiously as a chef in a busy kitchen. Somewhere a novel is bubbling on a back burner, an old attempt at history may come out of the freezer.

Quality in a classical Greek sense is how to live with grace and intelligence, with bravery and mercy.

Closeness to power heightens the dignity of all men.

The best time to listen to a politician is when he's on a stump on a street corner in the rain late at night when he's exhausted. Then he doesn't lie.

If you make a living, if you earn your own money, you're free - however free one can be on this planet.

The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy.