“India imposes no procrustean exactions on its citizens: you can be many things and one thing.”

“An impressive thing about India is the way in which it has almost as many Muslim citizens, who live with greater prospects of peace and prosperity, as does Pakistan. This comity and integration is one of the many targets of the suicide killers, and it is another reason why firm, warm solidarity with India is the most pressing need of the present hour.”

“The worst thing that can happen to a democracy is that its citizens leave the politics in the hands of politicians.”

“I think being a woman celebrity is the hardest thing in India…. People will ask many things, what you wear, how you speak, when you will have a baby and other things.”

“Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count.”

“how can the world in all its chaos come up with so many coincidences, so many similarities and exact opposites?”

“You can want one thing and have a secret wish for its opposite.”

“We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images. Abstract art will have been good for one thing: to restore its exact virginity to figurative art.”

“I think perhaps of all the things a police state can do to its citizens, distorting history is possibly the most pernicious.”

“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.”