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

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 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.

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.

You have to be wowed enough with your gift to wow the world with it.

Yes, the brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are done, we recognize one thing: that the human race has been badly manhandled, but that it has moved forward.

Be your own solace

He who lives only for himself is truly dead to others.

Fill in any figure you want for that boy (Mickey Mantle). Whatever the figure, it's a deal.

Act strenuously, would appear to be our faith, and right thinking will take care of itself.

What makes you tick? Why do you care about the things you care about?

The only way to change consciousness and the world around us is to start with yourself.

The bad blood rose in me, just like wine.

Marilyn Monroe never sold a platinum album. And more people know my music than what I look like.