Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they've known for a great unknown beyond the horizon? ... The answer is the same the world over: people move in the hope of a better life.

Any writer will be happy and good only if they know what they're doing and why they're doing it.

I can't live for more than four years outside of Canada. I'm Canadian, so ultimately that is my reference point.

Socially inferior animals are the ones that make the most strenuous, resourceful efforts to get to know their keepers. They prove to be the ones most faithful to them…it is a fact commonly known in the trade.

It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing.

My greatest wish — other than salvation — was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time.

Life on a lifeboat isn't much of a life.