It's complementary. It's fairly clear where the boundaries are. When I start telling you the contents of his head, I am making it up. But I try to make it up based on what is on the record. So even my wildest speculations [on Thomas Cromwell] will have a root somewhere.

Fear of commitment lies behind the fear of writing.

You don't get on by being original. You don't get on by being bright. You don't get on by being strong. You get on by being a subtle crook.

You're only young once, they say, but doesn't it go on for a long time? More years than you can bear.

Insight cannot be taken back. You cannot return to the moment you were in before.

You can have a silence full of words. A lute retains, in its bowl, the notes it has played. The viol, in its strings, holds a concord. A shriveled petal can hold its scent, a prayer can rattle with curses; an empty house, when the owners have gone out, can still be loud with ghosts.

Every leader operates under the threat of assassination.