I cannot and do not live in the world of discretion, not as a writer, anyway. I would prefer to, I assure you—it would make life easier. But discretion is, unfortunately, not for novelists.

The only way to understand another culture is to assume the frame of reference of that culture.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

The task of the playwright is to create a world that is both familiar and strange, a world that reflects our own but also challenges it.

There will always be things we wish to say in our programs that in all known languages can only be said poorly.