We are all creatures of the stars.

As soon as I got the Nobel Prize my back collapsed and I was in hospital.

Men are restless, adventurous. Women are conservative - despite what current ideology says.

There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.

I am interested only in stretching myself, on living as fully as I can.

I often feel like a dinosaur. I don't get the technology thing at all. I was on the Internet not long ago for Barnes and Noble, and people were ringing up from all over the world - Australia, Canada, France. I experienced it as an informal chat, which was pleasant, but I couldn't quite take it in. It had a strong element of unreality. I can't be bothered to switch to a computer at my age, though I might get along with e-mail, which sounds appealing.

I've always disliked words like inspiration. Writing is probably like a scientist thinking about some scientific problem, or an engineer about an engineering problem.