That instinct for human character that is perhaps inherent in an imaginative writer.

People talk about the courage of condemned men walking to the place of execution: sometimes it needs as much courage to walk with any kind of bearing towards another person's habitual misery.

There is a point of no return, unremarked at the time, in most lives.

A movie is not a book. If the source material is a book, you cannot be too respectful of the book. All you owe to the book is the spirit.

In our hearts there is a ruthless dictator, ready to contemplate the misery of a thousand strangers if it will ensure the happiness of the few we love.

Failure too is a form of death.

A ruling passion gives to a shelf of novels the unity of a system.