There's also the idea in this country [USA], it's not wholly new, but it's new in its kind of purity, in that you have to be really smart to be really rich. I always say to people, the reason people believe this is a) they've never met a really smart person, and b) they've never met a really rich person. I have met both, and I cannot see the crossover. You do not have to be a genius to get rich. You have to be ruthless to get rich.

In conversation you can use timing, a look, an inflection. But on the page all you have is commas, dashes, the amount of syllables in a word. When I write, I read everything out loud to get the right rhythm.

Children are much less annoying [than adults] and they never start trends.

Children are the most desirable opponents at scrabble as they are both easy to beat and fun to cheat.

If you read a lot, nothing is as great as you've imagined. Venice is - Venice is better.

When I saw a phone on a plane for the first time, I panicked ... I thought people were going to call me.

Scientists - the crowd that for dash and style make the general public look like the Bloomsbury set.