The biographer's real business - if it is not too arrogant to say so - is simply this: to bring the dead to life.

We are being governed by the dregs of the nation - and their brutality is so capricious that no one can feel certain that he will be safe tomorrow.

[On writing biography:] If you wish to see a person you must not start by seeing through him.

Just as, in travel, one may miss seeing the sunset because one cannot find the ticket-office or is afraid of missing the train, so in even the closest human relationships a vast amount of time and of affection is drained away in minor misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and failures in consideration or understanding.

The biographer's real business - if it is not too arrogant to say so - is simply this: to bring the dead to life.

whereas in childhood ... it was the parents' judgement that mattered to the child, later on the situation becomes reversed: it is then that the opinions of one's grown-up children become what matters, as well as their kindness.

I do not think that one is likely to write a good biography unless one feels some sympathy with its subject.