I'm a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can't and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing at that, only then does he turn to the novel.

The wisdom of hindsight, so useful to historians and indeed to authors of memoirs, is sadly denied to practising politicians.

The desert teaches you the value of water and the meaning of silence.

我努力过一种没有遗憾的生活。这是真正自由的唯一途径。