“After much research I've found the secret to publishing: Write excellent books. Write lots of them.”

“The book of war, the one we've been writing since one ape slapped another, was completely useless in this situation. We had to write a new one from scratch.”

“To me a good book is like a quiet friend—a friend who’s happy to share thoughts and feelings with you, who’s always there when you need them. Best of all, this friend doesn’t have any secrets. They trust you to understand them. They take you to their innermost places. They share their sensations and emotions—and they let you experience them. Wherever you go and however you feel, they are always by your side. For an hour, a day, a week, or forever, their life becomes yours. Their story is your story. That’s the kind of book I’m trying to write.”

“You are insistent, calling again. You want me to tell you the story of Scheherazade, who rocks the sad king on her knees as she sings him tales from wonderland. Yet you know that I am not Scheherazade, and that one of the world's greatest wonders is that I am unable to enter my country or pass through the region around it.”

“If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.”

“Writing is a delicious agony.”

“What you write chooses you.”