The newspaper is a marvelous medium. It is extraordinarily convenient and cheap. Let’s see. This one cost 75 cents. Now that’s a little high. I bought it when I was downtown this morning.

I wouldn’t write any kind of book without a contract and an advance. You can’t invest that amount of time and effort without one.

Why can’t a state that launches cosmonauts into space provide enough eggs and milk for its city children during the winter months?

I got a cable from New York saying that what I’d written about the growth of Soviet agricultural production didn’t make sense because the same levels were reached under the czars. I wanted to confirm it, but by then the censors were on to me.

I think it’s important to travel around in order to get a notion of what’s going on, to find out what people are think about. I enjoy talking on campuses most because people are more informed and discussion is generally livelier.

Journalism students need to understand it and need a solid background in the liberal arts, in sociology, economics, literature and language, because they won’t get it later on.

The clash between the aspirations of the people for a better life and the insistence of their rulers on building a powerful state, regardless of human sacrifice, runs through the whole of Russian history.

My favorite word is ‘pumpkin.’ You can’t take it seriously. But you can’t ignore it, either. It takes ahold of your head and that’s it. You are a pumpkin. Or you are not. I am.

There is no shortcut to life. To the end of our days, life is a lesson imperfectly learned.

Why can't a state that launches cosmonauts into space provide enough eggs and milk for its city children during the winter months?