Most people think, when they're young, that they're going to the top of their chosen world, and that the climb up is only a formality. Without that faith, I suppose, they might never start. Somewhere on the way they lift their eyes to the summit and know they aren't going to reach it; and happiness then is looking down and enjoying the view they've got, not envying the one they haven't.

THE KNOWN CHILD I wondered to what extent people remained the same as they'd been when very young; if one peeled back the layers of living one would come to the known child.

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.

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

A jump jockey has to throw his heart over the fence - and then go over and catch it.

Everyone journeys through character as well as through time. The person one becomes depends on the person one has been.

People always kill Caesar. Don't trust anyone.