Gunter Grass

"As a child I was a great liar. Fortunately my mother liked my lies. I promised her marvelous things."

"I don't believe in writing at night because it comes too easily. When I read it in the morning it's not good. I need daylight to begin. Between nine and ten o'clock I have a long breakfast with reading and music."

"I have often supported Israel, I have often visited the country and want the country to exist and at last find peace with its neighbours."

"My relationship with Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm reaches far back into my childhood. I grew up with Grimm's fairy tales. I even saw a theater production of 'Tom Thumb' during Advent at the State Theater in Danzig, which my mother took me to see."