Sprawled out on the front lawn/ looking up at an ordinary sky/ it could fall on me and some how be/ the day I didn't die.

But the human being likes to be challenged, seeks freedom in adversity.

Let's hit the joke once and move on to the next joke and just keep it where we have as many jokes per square inch as possible.

I believe poor people are good people, except the ones that are mean . . .

Life is dear to all beings, they have the right to live the same that we do.

Mortality is very different when you're 20 to when you're 50.

I have a lot to say about the world, clearly. I can't put together a clear sentence about it all, but through the work I can say what I think.

I started writing 'Brick Lane' when my children were two years and five months old. We were on holiday in the north of England when I was overtaken by a compulsion to start writing.

Most of my friends are skaters or were skaters at one time, so they obviously relate.

People are really hesitant about expressing that they don't know something - but what's the big deal? I'm not ashamed about that at all.

To a bibliophile, there is but one thing better than a box of new books, and that is a box of old ones.