Nothing is easy in writing. I don't think for anyone. But dialogue is probably what comes most naturally to me.

When writing dialogue, I hear it in both Russian and English, and try to find a language that combines the two.

Why are some people highly principled and willing to do anything for their principles, while most of us are not? And I am willing to not only ask, but also answer the question.

Language is a personality as well. People are different when they speak different languages.

I spent seven years writing The Free World. There are a lot of things I accomplished there that I'm very proud of, but I didn't want to spend another seven years writing a book like that.

People everywhere feel differently at different times of their lives.

I think having an uncompromising ideology eventually forces you out of the norm.

We are taught that we can be better than we are. But is there a limit to how good we can be?

In my experience of women, women have a greater capacity. Maybe women, even very pragmatic ones, are less guarded about showing emotions.

We all have some ideological quotient in ourselves. And I think it does guide who we are.

When you write a book, you want to have fidelity to the character. Characters and their emotions guide the structure of the novel.

What a curious power words have.

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

You belong to all of us, and we belong to you.

No men are less addicted to reverie than the citizens of a democracy.

I'd like to think that the nature of the two teams - Boston being a championship team over the years and the Lakers, same thing - was a lot bigger than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.

Teaching is too strong a word for whatever it was I did at Northeastern University

The Scoutmaster teaches boys to play the game by doing so himself.

The world of tomorrow belongs to the person who has the vision for today.

Mat had tried to make her say she saw a hat floating around Mat's head. That would persuade Tuon to stop trying to get rid of his, would it not?

I am 39 years old, and I still wake up every morning really excited I don't have to go to school.