Yann Martel

“If I didn't have children, I think my life would be a failure.”

“Every book I've written has been a different attempt to understand something, and the success or failure of the previous one is irrelevant. I write the book I want.”

“I love Canada. It's a wonderful political act of faith that exists atop a breathtakingly beautiful land.”

“Fanatics do not have faith - they have belief. With faith you let go. You trust. Whereas with belief you cling.”

“Reality is how we interpret it. Imagination and volition play a part in that interpretation. Which means that all reality is to some extent a fiction.”

“I'm still learning my craft.”

“I find that movies tend to fix the aesthetics of a story in people's minds.”

“Cinema is visually powerful, it is a complete experience, reaches a different audience. It's something I really like. I like movies.”

“How do you live with evil? Art is traditionally - certainly with my secular background - the answer, but art is very self-referential, whereas religion claims to go beyond the bounds of human existence.”