I cannot bear not to know the end of a tale. I will read the most trivial things – once commenced – only out of a feverish greed to be able to swallow the ending – sweet or sour – and to be done with what I need never have embarked on. Are you in my case? Or are you a more discriminating reader? Do you lay aside the unprofitable?

Once you get older, people stop listening to what you say. It's very agreeable once you get used to it.

I think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity. If you look really hard at almost anybody, and try to see why they're doing what they're doing, taking a dig at them ceases to be what you want to do even if you hate them.

It's because I'm a feminist that I can't stand women limiting other women's imaginations. It really makes me angry.

Where would we be without inhibitions? Theyre quite useful things when you look at some of the things humans do if they lose them.

Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood.

I am a profound pessimist both about life and about human relations and about politics and ecology. Humans are inadequate and stupid creatures who sooner or later make a mess, and those who are trying to do good do a lot more damage than those who are muddling along.