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.

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

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.

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

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

Music is spiritual. The music business is not.

At a certain point, memory begins to be a burden.

A celebrity farts, and everyone endures, but the unpopular will be thrased to death.

You stole my heart the day we met, and I've never asked for it back.

Just as physical wounds heal at different rates in different people, so do emotional wounds. Everyone has different needs and speeds.

The universe expects every man to do his duty in his parallel of latitude.

The Tao which you know is not the eternal Tao

What we do and accomplish is only the tip of the iceberg of what's possible for us.

My relationships with my loved ones always take precedence over work.