The problem with clichés is not that they contain false ideas, but rather that they are superficial articulations of very good ones...If...we are obliged to create our own language, it is because there are dimensions to ourselves absent from clichés, which require us to flout etiquette in order to convey with greater accuracy the distinctive timbre of our thought.

In Britain, because I live here, I can also run into problems of envy and competition. But all this is just in a day's work for a writer. You can't put stuff out there without someone calling you a complete fool. Oh, well.

The study of maps and the perusal of travel books aroused in me a secret fascination that was at times almost irresistible.

There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most.

Being funny should be an incidental byproduct of trying to get to something truthful, not a destination in itself.

We tend to believe in the modern secular world that if you tell someone something once, they'll remember it. ... Religions go, "Nonsense. You need to keep repeating the lesson 10 times a day. So get on your knees and repeat it." That's what all religions tell us: "Get on your knees and repeat it 10 or 20 or 15 times a day." Otherwise our minds are like sieves.

The desire for high status is never stronger than in situations where "ordinary" life fails to answer a median need for dignity and comfort.