My exile was not only a physical one, motivated exclusively by political reasons; it was also a moral, social, ideological and sexual exile.

A contemporary artist can use the findings of all epochs and all styles, from the most primitive literary expressions up to the most refined products of the baroque.

In times when religious or political faith or hope predominates, the writer functions totally in unison with society, and expresses society's feelings, beliefs, and hopes in perfect harmony.

As I began to discover my own truth and endeavored to possess it with clarity, I became more and more alienated from that which my companions held, or professed to hold.

And with each day that passed, the gulf broadened and my isolation became more accentuated. In such a situation, the discovery that my experience was not unique, that it had also been that of other Spanish intellectuals, became very important for me.

The writer cannot abandon himself simply to inspiration, and feign innocence vis a vis language, because language is never innocent.

In Count Julian I simply proposed to create a text which would allow for diverse levels of reading.

Marks of Identity is, among other things, the expression of the process of alienation in a contemporary intellectual with respect to his own country.

But the Spain which emerged around 1960, beginning with its economic miracle, created by the invasion of tourists, can no longer result in impassioned dedication on the part of its intellectuals, and even less on the part of foreign intellectuals.

When I write now I do not invent situation, characters, or actions, but rather structures and discursive forms, textual groupings which are combined according to secret affinities among themselves, as in architecture or the plastic arts.

And it is because a series of elements in Spanish life which operate today the same way as they did in the times of Blanco White made obvious my relationship with him, based on a similarity in Spain's condition.

In my opinion, the most significant works of the twentieth century are those that rise beyond the conceptual tyranny of genre; they are, at the same time, poetry, criticism, narrative, drama, etc.

My exile was not only a physical one, motivated exclusively by political reasons; it was also a moral, social, ideological and sexual exile.

I not only lived physically away from my native land, but the values and critical judgments of those closest to me became stranger and stranger.

In the Europe which was created by the Second World War, divided into two blocks, each in need of a revolution that would end the abuses and injustices of capitalism and the privileges of a bureaucratic caste, collective faith does not exist.

For a country is not merely a piece of earth; it is, above all, a compendium of social, cultural, and historical factors which begin to acquire sense and order through the process of writing.

The fundamental purpose of a novel like Count Julian is to achieve the unity of object and means of representation, the fusion of treason as scheme and treason as language.

'Rhye' clearly plays with notions of sexual identity, and it has made a concerted effort to keep its own identity mysterious. Its love songs are gender-neutral, the members have declined to appear in their own videos, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a photo of the duo that doesn't cast them in shadows.

Everyone says villains are thankless parts, but those are really the best roles.

I think I wanted to write a book about the relationship between the victim and perpetrator in which the victim agrees to remain silent.

There can be no assumption that today's majority is 'right' and the Amish and others like them are 'wrong.' A way of life that is odd or even erratic but interferes with no rights or interests of others is not to be condemned because it is different.

If you don't like Beyonce, then it's hard for me to trust you. It's like not liking world peace.

There cannot be greater rudeness than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse.

Being a woman in a male-dominated industry sort of sucks, but it doesn't suck any more than being a woman in the world. My advice? Be terrifying.

I've recently enjoyed the Paul Thomas Anderson commentaries and the David Fincher commentaries.

Live a life less ordinary.

It's no fun for me to cover a song and produce it the exact same way as it already exists. When I hear that happening, I have to say, 'What's the point?'

Hope of ill gain is the beginning of loss.

I grew up on the golden age of children's TV.

Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down.

If actors could actually make a living doing theater, that would be my first choice. Sitcoms are the closest thing to being onstage in front of an audience. If I had to choose, it would be theater and doing the occasional movie once in a while, and spending time doing nothing.

I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them.

I definitely have a dark side of me that can be pretty vicious... as we all do.

People often belittle the place where they were born.

The bass players function along with the drums is to be the engine that drives the car everything else is merely colours.

Sometimes you have to ask the question as if it's going to be your last question - as if it's going to be the last time you talk to that person.

We are discovering what the universe is really like, and it is totally magnificent, and one can only be inspired and awestruck by what we find.

The running across the field thing, that was the first scene we shot in the movie. We asked the audience to stay for the scene, and 37,000 people stayed.

Laying the groundwork for smaller, smarter government, especially at the federal level, is going to be tough. But it is essential for getting us back on the path to long-term prosperity.

Having created a business that is a success, when you are in a nepotistic situation, people who don't do anything themselves, well, it is easy for them to say it's never good enough.

Never let the negativity get to you. There are gonna be a lot of people you have to plow through, but as long you believe in yourself, that's all that matters.