People might like to think a war is done when a cease fire is signed, but for most people who lived through a war it goes on for decades.

Every new refugee to a society, whether it's the United States or some other place, is subjected to fear. They are the new outsider population, the new other.

In the United States, the immigrant experience occupies a very central place in American mythology. And sometimes, that place wavers between acceptance and rejection.

Immigrants, as troubling as they are to some people, are an integral part of what the American Dream is supposed to be. They're understandable to a considerable number of Americans.

Writers from the majority can assume their audiences know what they're talking about - they don't have to explain things, whereas minority writers are expected to.

My identity is deeply intertwined with being a refugee because that's the first experience that I remember.

I never called myself a writer because it seemed so pretentious - a writer was what somebody else called you, a title bestowed.

I've never stopped being a refugee.

Hollywood in many ways serves as the unofficial ministry of propaganda for the United States.

If you're a so-called minority writer, the temptation is to write for the majority... I refuse to do that.

No one wants for their child to become a refugee. It's an awful experience.

A man does not know what he is saying until he knows what he is not saying.

Choose wisely, then eat in moderation. When I know I'm going to Mom's for dinner, I throw an extra 20 minutes on the cardio machine so I can be ready to eat.

Absurdly improbable things are quite as liable to happen in real life as in weak literature.

There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our thoughts.

The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps... so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in.

People will hate you for speaking the truth, but you've gotta learn to stand up to them, so don't be offended if I say something you don't like.

She knew that he loved her above all else, more than anything in the world, but only for his own sake.

My parents gave me that gift of "reading is a good thing." I mean my mother was afraid of everything. But she was never afraid that Judy is reading.

Only in America can someone start with nothing and achieve the American Dream. That's the greatness of this country.

There is no magic on earth strong enough to wipe out the legacies of one's parents.