I am getting much more political as I get older. It's the duty of any writer, in particular, not to stand back from the world.

Slightest accidents open up new worlds.

Know thyself,’ said Socrates. Know thyself,’ said Sappho, ‘and make sure that the Church never finds out.

What a strange world this is when you can have as much sex as you like but love is taboo.

I hated historical novels with fluttering cloaks.

Nothing has an unlikely quality. It is heavy.

I have a head for heights it's true, but no stomach for the depths. Strange then to have plumbed so many.