“And what there is to learn from almost any human experience is that your own interests usually do not come first where other people are concerned--even the people who love you--and that is all right. It can be lived with.”

“Literature presents you with alternate mappings of the human experience. You see that the experiences of other people and other cultures are as rich, coherent, and troubled as your own experiences. They are as beset with suffering as yours. Literature is a kind of legitimate voyeurism through the keyhole of language where you really come to know other people's lives--their anguish, their loves, their passions. Often you discover that once you dive into those lives and get below the surface, the veneer, there is a real closeness.”

“You can't live your life for other people. You've got to do what's right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.”

“People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.”

“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.”

“Love isn't safe. And whoever you love will hurt you. It's part of the human experience. No one is perfect...People make mistakes. The secret is to focus on what they do right and decide what quirks you can live with.”