We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from another's vantage point, as if new, it may still take the breath away.

I think that we need mythology. We need a bedrock of story and legend in order to live our lives coherently.

To me, all creativity is magic. Ideas start out in the empty void of your head - and they end up as a material thing, like a book you can hold in your hand. That is the magical process. It's an alchemical thing. Yes, we do get the gold out of it but that's not the most important thing. It's the work itself.

In order to be able to make it, you have to put aside the fear of failing and the desire of succeeding. You have to do these things completely and purely without fear, without desire. Because things that we do without lust of result are the purest actions we shall ever take.

As far as I can see, it's not important that we have free will, just as long as we have the illusion of free will to stop us going mad.

Technology is always a two-edged sword. It will bring in many benefits, but also many disasters.

I genuinely like the people I meet at signings or the bits of public talking that I do.