There was a boy in my building who was my best friend when I was growing up. There was also a mysterious person on my corner who we called the Laughing Man.

I think that's one of the most important things that books do: not to teach you anything, but to help you teach yourself by just being in the world of the book and having your own thoughts and reactions and noticing your own reactions and thoughts and learning about yourself that way.

I have nothing like a writing routine. I sometimes have trouble buckling down to write at home.

I think things hit me very hard, and I wish I had allowed things to roll off my back a little bit more.

Find a good teacher, as I found for my sons. I feel the worst thing you can do is to try and teach your own children yourself, because there is a natural rebellion that occurs.

I was a bum at school. I never liked learning, and stupid ideas used to come to mind.

I think it's never too late to learn - or it's a lesson that's good to continue learning - that you need to treat everyone on a set with respect.

When a person is humiliated, when his rights are being violated, and he does not have the proper education, naturally he gravitates toward terrorism.