But what do I have? The things I'm told and the things I tell, that's all. And as far as I know, that never yet made anyone fly.

Memory is a snare, pure and simple; it alters, it subtly rearranges the past to fit the present.

Prosperity or egalitarianism -- you have to choose. I favor freedom -- you never achieve real equality anyway: you simply sacrifice prosperity for an illusion.

Like writing, reading is a protest against the insufficiencies of life.

Life is a shitstorm, in which art is our only umbrella." (spoken by character in a novel by Mario Vargas Llosa)

The secret to a masterpiece is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.

You cannot teach creativity - how to become a good writer. But you can help a young writer discover within himself what kind of writer he would like to be.

Its easy to know what you want to say, but not to say it

Writers are the exorcists of their own demons.

One can't fight with oneself, for this battle has only one loser.

No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.

The mountains inspire me because they are just still and they have such a strong, quiet presence that feels very old.

It brings joy in sorrow, victory in battle, light to darkness, life to the dead. That is the power of the blood-red jewel which men honor with the name "The Philosopher's Stone.

It's marvelous, marvelous! Nothing will ever be as much fun. I'm going to photograph everything, everything!

Tonight I'll dust myself off, tonight I'll suck my gut in, I'll face the night and I'll pretend I got something to believe in.

Whatever one does cheerfully is good for health.

I feel more comfortable confidence-wise. You get to the NHL, and you're nervous about trying things. With experience, you're not as afraid of being creative.

When you grow up in science fiction you grow up in everything! It's the greatest and only field worth growing up in. It's the total field.

A cut glass English accent can fool unsuspecting Americans into detecting a brilliance that isn't there

The only way to combat failure is to see it as an opportunity to improve your direction.

Once in a while there are things the brain simply refuses to accept as being true because they appear too improbable, too unlikely, too preposterous.