Salman Rushdie

The purpose of art is to hold a mirror up to nature, and sometimes that mirror is distorted.

The world is a chaotic place, and the job of the writer is to bring some order to it, even if it's just a temporary order.

I believe in the power of words, and I believe in the power of stories.

The future of freedom depends on the future of literature.

The only way to resist tyranny is to tell stories.

I have always believed that stories are how we make sense of the world, and how we change the world.

The thing about writing is that it’s a way of making sense of chaos.

The greatest danger to freedom is the absence of a joke.

I mean, how many books does one have to write before one is allowed to be a little bit boring?

If you don't like my books, don't read them. If you don't like my books, don't buy them. If you don't like my books, don't read them. If you don't like my books, don't buy them. Get a life.

Sometimes you have to choose between a life of meaning and a life of comfort.

It is, after all, the right of the people to be absolutely idiotic if they wish.

Free speech is not something you can have 'too much of'.

The only people who are truly free are those who can laugh at themselves.

A good book is a good book is a good book. And if it's a bit of a page-turner, so much the better.

I'm a fairly unpopular person. I seem to annoy a lot of people.

I've always believed that the only way to be truly original is to steal from everyone.

If you want to write, read. If you want to write well, read a lot.

People often ask me what I think about the internet. I think it's a great place to find cat videos.

Literature is not a moral beauty contest.