I read constantly. If I don't have a good book, I'm beside myself.

I confess, right at the start, to the doubts - and sometimes outright dreads - that go with me as I climb the stairs to my study in the morning, coffee mug in hand: I have to admit to the habitual apprehension mixed with a sort of reverence, as I light the incense . . . and wonder: what is going to happen today? Will anything happen? Will the angel come today?

I believe that with enough practice and good faith, you can learn to recognize when the work is achieved.

Learning when 'enough is enough' is the discipline of a lifetime.

I'm always aware that I risk being taken for a neurasthenic prima donna when I explain to someone who wants 'just a little' of my time that five minutes of the wrong kind of distraction can ruin a working day.

Dreams say what they mean, but they don't say it in daytime language.

Life is a disease.