All politicians are not the same. I've never felt that way. What is the same is that voters get very excited about new faces, like Clinton and Blair - and they have unrealistic expectations that the world will change overnight. A cynical old hand like myself knows that it won't.

You know, when I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. And it just disappeared, like all the other empires.

Don't read a book out of its right time for you.

I hate Iran. I hate the Iranian government. It's a cruel and evil government.

I do not think writers or anybody would sit down and think they must write about some cause, or theme, or something. If they write about their own experiences, something true is going to emerge.

Mother's room, and mother's need for privacy become a valuable lesson in respect for other people's rights.

Envy has always hidden behind moral indignation.