Like every writer, I'm drawn by unlikely juxtapositions, precisely-dated and once-only collisions between people from different worlds.

History is always changing behind us, and the past changes a little every time we retell it.

She is very plain. What does Henry see in her?'" "He thinks she's stupid. He finds it restful.

Sometimes peace looks like war, you cannot tell them apart.

Watching live actors onstage, in something that changes night by night, real people picking up cues from each other, it concentrates you on the process rather than the result.

Fortitude. ... It means fixity of purpose. It means endurance. It means having the strength to live with what constrains you.

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.