I don't want to deal with big, grand themes in my stories; art has nothing to do with themes. When you deal with themes, you are not creating; you are lecturing.

If you have to be careful because of oppression and censorship, this pressure produces diamonds.

I don't think people are fools, and I think they deserve a good attitude and smart entertainment.

In Russia, people suffer from the stillness of time.

For us, the best time is always yesterday.

I have enough energy to insist on saying what I think.

If there is a pattern, it will come back - maybe in Russia more than anywhere else, because it has collapsed so many times. Maybe less so here in the States, because here the society is so young.

Art has nothing to do with politics. It is the freest thing in the world.

I am interested in the subject which is Russia.

People know that I am a very good author. But they would rather read what I have to say about the next election.

If you have to be careful because of oppression and censorship this pressure produces diamonds.

Knowing others is intelligence

I watched you storm towards the restaurant door. It was a chilly December morning and the birds sitting on the high wires in the neighborhood refused to fly any longer.

The arts can sharpen the vision, quicken the intellect, preserve the memory, activate the conscience, enhance the understanding and refresh the language.

People in love overvalue their heart and undervalue their mind.

...women will show pride and honor about almost anything except love ...

[Donald] Trump would want to cosy up to him for sure, and he'd be right to do that. Which would be good for the world.

There have been many amazing Presidents in American history, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, all of whom I greatly admire.

I never really sympathised with Peter Parker.

I count absolutely no chickens before they're hatched. In fact, I assume they're all dead in their shells, inside their eggs.

Globalization is not a monolithic force but an evolving set of consequences - some good, some bad and some unintended. It is the new reality.