Tokyo may have more money and Kyoto more culture; Nara may have more history and Kobe more style. But Osaka has the biggest heart.

The slums are not a place of despair. Its inhabitants are all working towards a better life.

...a rainy day ceases to have meaning for a person who has lived in the open under a monsoon cloud most of his life.

That dreams have power only over your own mind. But with money you can have power over the minds of others

Sometimes street knowledge can be as important as book knowledge.

Never judge a man's actions until you know his motives

I am not into the unrealistic realm of magic realism where birds talk.

I did not go to any creative writing workshop; I did not major in literature. If I can write, anyone can write. All it needs is imagination.

I am very interested in human-interest stories emerging from modern India. I get my inspiration and daily dose by reading the Hindustan Times.

A great artist is not one who merely fits into a genre but one who defines the genre.

God made the human body like a machine with built-in obsolescence.

Revenge only engenders violence, not clarity and true peace. I think liberation must come from within.

I realized that being present for loved ones who are dying or aging is one of the greatest honors and gifts in my life. We are quite small in the big scheme of things.

You cannot teach today the same way you did yesterday to prepare students for tomorrow.

I just tried to come up with some honest songs. What I was writing about was real plain stuff that I wasn't sure was going to be interesting to other people. But I guess it was.

It is better to sit in appreciative contemplation of a world in which beauty is eternally supported on a foundation of ugliness: cut out the support, and beauty will sink from sight.

Health care is very different from other sectors of the economy in several respects, one of which is the fact that the risk can be very high beyond people's ability. That leads to insurance.

A designer can mull over complicated designs for months. Then suddenly the simple, elegant, beautiful solution occurs to him. When it happens to you, it feels as if God is talking! And maybe He is.

There are three things I commit to on a daily basis: Exercising for an hour a day, tops. Never skipping meals. And accepting the size and shape I was born with.

When a man mistakes his thoughts for persons and things, he is mad.

There is an important erotic element in A Thousand and One Nights, which is one of the keys to understanding the Orient.