That is the great distinction between the sexes. Men see objects, women see the relationships between objects.

We chase the reward, we get the reward and then we discover that the true reward is always the next reward. Buying pleasure is a false end.

It is only when our characters and events begin to disobey us that they begin to live.

On the whole, dialogue is the most difficult thing, without any doubt. It's very difficult, unfortunately. You have to detach yourself from the notion of a lifelike quality. You see, actually lifelike, tape-recorded dialogue like this has very little to do with good novel dialogue. It's a matter of getting that awful tyranny of mimesis out of your mind, which is difficult.

To write poetry and to commit suicide, apparently so contradictory, had really been the same, attempts at escape.

I do not plan my fiction any more than I normally plan woodland walks; I follow the path that seems most promising at any given point, not some itinerary decided before entry.

Thomas Beecham was a pompous little band-master who stood against everything creative in the art of his time.