I don't intend to simply go away and write my plays and be a good boy. I intend to remain an independent and political intelligence in my own right.

I could be a bit of a pain in the arse. Since I've come out of my cancer, I must say I intend to be even more of a pain in the arse.

I believe an international criminal court is very much to be desired.

The weasel under the cocktail cabinet.

I don't intend to simply go away and write my plays and be a good boy. I intend to remain an independent and political intelligence in my own right.

All that happens is that the destruction of human beings - unless they're Americans - is called collateral damage.

A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection - unless you lie - in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician.