For an artist to think in terms of success is like a priest trying to think in terms of success.

People change,' she said 'Oh, no they don't. Look at me. I've never changed. It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton. That's human nature.

All good novelists have bad memories. What you remember comes out as journalism; what you forget goes into the compost of the imagination.

Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.

Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.

Human nature is not black and white but black and grey.

All good novelists have bad memories.