I do pauses, pauses work for me

Children are very overprotected now, in lots of ways. We're very nervous about them. You know, people go, "Don't go outside! Or inside! Get into the cupboard with some spinach!" When I was a child they'd kick you out and you weren't expected to come back until there were bats!

I write all the time, but you just want to be careful what you put out. That's all. You want to have the confidence that you've done what you need to do to it, because otherwise it's an exercise in vanity.

He could dismiss several schools of philosophy by shifting slightly in his chair or toting his whisky glass.

All the shy people are doomed! Natural selection favors the loud and the aggressive

I would never really analyse what I do. I leave that to other people - I'm not a critic. I just want to get on with whatever I have in hand, you know? Just try to make the best job of the available material.

We all know smoking is bad. I know I'm going to quit someday, if I thought I wasn't I'd quit now.