I lack what the English call character, by which they mean the power to refrain.

Were we closer to the ground as children, or is the grass emptier now?

Clichés can be quite fun. That's how they got to be clichés.

Why is it always the "intelligent" people who are socialists?

The thing I think about is that once you've done it, you then start to think about what you're going to do next. It's much easier to follow something that's not been as successful as this.

f they'd been working with Alec Guinness, for instance, they wouldn't have known they were born if they'd not towed the line!

Books are not about passing the time. They're about other lives. Other worlds.