“The people have to take part. They have to understand that they have the power to move things, and they must really commit themselves to change if they want it.”

If you want democracy, you have got to be prepared to accept the responsibilities of democracy.

Part of our struggle is to make the international community understand that we are a poor country not because there is an insufficiency of resources and investment, but because we are deprived of the basic institutions and practices that make for good government.

It is not enough to sit and hope. You have to work in order to realize your hopes.

A revolution which aims merely at changing official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success.

It is not a sacrifice, it’s a choice. If you choose to do something, then you shouldn’t say it’s a sacrifice, because nobody forced you to do it

Regimented minds cannot grasp the concept of confrontation as an open exchange of major differences with a view to settlement through genuine dialogue.

We want to empower our people; we want to strengthen them; we want to provide them with the kind of qualifications that will enable them to build up their own country themselves.

I think more women should be involved in politics for the good of the human race.

The value systems of those with access to power and of those far removed from such access cannot be the same.

The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear

The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk.

We have to choose between dialogue and utter devastation.

How could I stand the separation from family and friends? It is ironic, I say, that in an authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of conscience who is genuinely free. Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But we have stayed true to that most precious part of our humanity-our conscience.

People ask me about what sacrifices I’ve made. I always answer: I’ve made no sacrifices, I’ve made choices.

Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people.

When you decide to follow a certain path, you should follow it to the end and not be diverted from it for personal reasons.

It’s basically the same, just darker.

You can’t let your characters just be mouthpieces for your ideas. They have to live and breathe on their own.

Just as Jimmy Stewart and Tyrone Power get 50 percent of the profits, so do I.

Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we’re all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.

Did you shout out in anger, in fear of your neighbor or did you just sit down and cry?..

I don’t just want my books to be about the ’30s and ’40s. I want them to read as if they had been written then. I think of them as ’40s novels, written in the conservative narrative past.

I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but look: Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by sixty-five million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?

Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting.