Mohsin Hamid

Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself.

If your sense of self is destabilised, to imagine being another becomes pretty easy.

Growing up in Pakistan in the 1980s, I lived in the shadow of a tyrannical state.

I am a big one for subtlety and empathy. My dad was softly spoken and didn't carry his honours and accomplishments for everyone to see.

What people don't understand about Sarah Palin is that she is a rancher's wife. From Alberta down to Texas I've known women like that: good common sense, bright and vilified by city people.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.