“A reactionary is someone who wants to return to a previous state - that's never a possibility in my books. For me, everything's irreversible in the life of a society, as well as an individual's.”

“Active people don't change the world profoundly; ideas do. Napoleon is less important in world history than Jean-Jacques Rousseau.”

“I admit that invective is one of my pleasures. This only brings me problems in life, but that's it. I attack, I insult. I have a gift for that, for insults, for provocation. So I am tempted to use it.”

“I am for the muscles. I would like to have a lot of muscles, because women like it. I'm for bodybuilding, but it's very exhausting.”

“I find it an absolute pleasure to read travel guides, especially the Michelin guides, and their description of places I know I'll probably never visit. I spend a large part of my life reading descriptions of restaurants.”

“I prefer reading to writing. Reading changes your world view. Writing changes absolutely nothing. Except, of course, when it makes you rich.”

“I tend to think that good and evil exist and that the quantity in each of us is unchangeable. The moral character of people is set, fixed until death.”

“I think poetry is the only domain where a writer you like can truly be said to influence you, because you read and reread a poem so many times that it simply drills itself into your head.”

“I think that if I am notorious, it is because other people have decided that this is how I should be.”

“I think that there is a sharp contrast for most people between life at university, where they meet lots of people, and the moment when they enter the workforce, when they basically no longer meet anyone. Life becomes dull. So as a result people get married to have a personal life. I could elaborate but I think everyone understands.”

“I'd say that the question whether love still exists plays the same role in my novels as the question of God's existence in Dostoevsky.”

“In my own writing, I think of myself as a realist who exaggerates a little.”

“Islam is a dangerous religion.”

“My novels are all ideas.”

“The Americans are completely stupid. The intellectual level in any single European country is higher than in America.”

“The great advantage of a novel is you can put in whatever comes into your head - it has the same shape as the human brain.”

“The love of a dog is a pure thing. He gives you a trust which is total. You must not betray it.”

“The most stupid religion is Islam.”

“The press may hate me, and I know my battles with them are not over, but that doesn't matter.”

“There is no point in asking me general questions because I am always changing my mind.”

“Those who think they know me are simply lacking in information.”

“Using a big word like 'plagiarism'... always causes some damage. It will always do lasting damage, like accusations of racism.”

“When a country is strong... it accepts any dose of pessimism from its writers.”

“Why am I popular? I don't know. Is it a mistake? I should think it's a mistake somewhere.”

“You can't be a crazy rebel in the face of death, it's not a fitting attitude.”

“You know, you don't have to have permanent opinions. You can think, every morning, 'I love the world' and go to bed every night thinking, 'I hate the world.'”