Dogs are dim creatures, do not speak to me of their good sense--have you ever heard of a team of tomcats hauling a sled across the frozen wastes?

...being alone with him was like being in a room which someone had just violently left

Ian McEwan is a very good writer; the first half of Atonement alone would ensure him a lasting place in English letters.

If I was asked to say what was the greatest invention of human beings, I would say the sentence.

The past beats inside me like a second heart.

All a work of art can do is present the surface. I can't know the insides of people. I know very little about the inside of myself.

If they give me the bloody prize, why can't they say nice things about me?