Writing a novel proved to be the hardest, most self-analyzing task I had ever attempted, far worse than an autobiography: and its rewards were greater than I expected.

Good manners are a sign of strength.

Life has a way of kicking one along like a football, or so I've found. Fate had never dealt me personally a particularly easy time, but that was OK, that was normal. Most people, it seemed to me, took their turn to be football. Most survived. Some didn't.

The dignity of man was everywhere tissue-paper thin.

Crime to many is not crime but simply a way of life. If laws are inconvenient, ignore them, they dont apply to you.

Emotion is a rotten base for politics.

Let an idea swim to the surface like a fish in a pool...let the mind drift to the vision.