In the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better.

Any human anywhere will blossom in a hundred unexpected talents and capacities simply by being given the opportunity to do so.

I am so happy to be communicating with people on this newest of new wavelengths which to some older people must seem like a kind of magic.

I have kept diaries, of course, but they can't be read for quite a long time. I'm always curious about people who are fascinated by writers' lives. It seems to me that we're always in our books, quite nakedly. I wonder, too, does the private life really matter? Who cares what is known about you and what isn't? Even when you make public something that's been private, most people don't get it - not unless they're the same generation and have gone through more or less the same experiences. So, in a sense, we're all private, by definition.

My father was in the First World War.

Laughter is by definition healthy.

If you read, you can learn to think for yourself.