Gerald Westerby, he told himself. You were present at your birth. You were present at your several marriages and at some of your divorces, and you will certainly be present at your funeral. High time, in our considered view, that you were present at certain other crucial moments in your history.

Every writer knows he is spurious; every fiction writer would rather be credible than authentic.

Our power knows no limits, yet we cannot find food for a starving child, or a home for a refugee. Our knowledge is without measure and we build the weapons that will destroy us. We live on the edge of ourselves, terrified of the darkness within. We have harmed, corrupted and ruined, we have made mistakes and deceived.

To possess another language is to possess another soul.

A spy, like a writer, lives outside the mainstream population. He steals his experience through bribes and reconstructs it.

In itself, the practice of deception is not particularly exacting; it is a matter of experience, of professional expertise, it is a facility most of us can acquire.

Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes.