“When a writer talks about his work, he's talking about a love affair.”

“The writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anticlimax.”

“One writes to make a home for oneself, on paper, in time and in others' minds.”

“it's been my experience that most writers don't talk about their craft--they just do it”

“The arrogance and brutality of empire are not repealed when they temporarily get deployed in a just cause.”

“I heard people talking about what this Red Army did to any Germans they captured, and this only added to my fears.”

“In therapy, to meet the needs of traumatized survivors of war and torture, the patient is requested to repeatedly talk about the worst traumatic event in detail while re-experiencing all emotions associated with the event. Traumatic memory, they say, is cleared by narration of whole life; from early childhood up to the present date ... this book is my therapy. I am awash with living memories.”