Loneliness and hunger were my fortunes of creation.

- Mo Yan

A sudden cloud formation of birds was swallowed up by the moon, and he was just as suddenly penned in by four walls-the demons' pen.

- Mo Yan

I'll continue on the path I've been taking, feet on the ground, describing people's lives, describing people's emotions, writing from the standpoint …

- Mo Yan

People who are strangers to liquor are incapable of talking about literature.

- Mo Yan

A writer should bury his thoughts deep and convey them through the characters in his novel.

- Mo Yan

Some may want to shout on the street, but we should tolerate those who hide in their rooms and use literature to voice their opinions.

- Mo Yan

I know what real courage is, and I understand true compassion.

- Mo Yan

The act of giving voice to this spiritual suffering is, in my view, the sacred duty of the writer.

- Mo Yan

For a country boy, poor as I was, whose constant worry was to be able to have enough to eat, the Army guaranteed one's survival.

- Mo Yan