“A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.”

“Why is contemporary China short of works that speak directly? Because we writers cannot speak directly, or rather we can only speak in an indirect way.Why does contemporary China lack good works that critique our current situation? Because our current situation may not be critiqued. We have not only lost the right to criticise, but the courage to do so.Why is modern China lacking in great writers? Because all the great writers are castrated while still in the nursery.”

“Perhaps the greatest illusion a writer ever creates is that his work is achieved without great effort or sacrifice. ”

“Thackeray's a good writer and Flaubert is a great artist. Trollope is a good writer and Dickens is a great artist. Colette is a very good writer and Proust is a great artist. Katherine Anne Porter was an extremely good writer and Willa Cather was a great artist.”

“A great writer is the friend and benefactor of his readers.”

“The greatness of a writer has nothing to do with subject matter itself, only with how much the subject matter touches the author.”