"Money changes all the iron rules into rubber bands."

"This is the most intimate relationship between literature and its readers: they treat the text as a part of themselves, as a possession."

"My writing is a combination of three elements. The first is travel: not travel like a tourist, but travel as exploration. The second is reading literature on the subject. The third is reflection."

"There are several reasons why Russians view the oppressive state positively. First, in the Russian Orthodox religion, there is an understanding of authority as something sent by God."

"When ambition meets humility, we find that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

"Those who own much have much to fear."

"Oddly enough, I have really bad stage fright - getting up in front of people. And I made a living going on live television."

"I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep."