It was a charming fantasy of romantics that the spies would stop spying, that political conflict would end and politicians would tell the truth. Unfortunately that has not been the case.

Survival...is an infinite capacity for suspicion.

Thank heaven, though, one of the few mistakes I haven't made is to talk about the unwritten book.

Each my book feels like my last book. And then I think, like a dedicated alcoholic, that one more won't do me any harm.

The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous. But neither, in my experience, do we ever reach a plane of detachment regarding our parents, however wise and old we may become. To pretend otherwise is to cheat.

No problem exists in isolation, one must first reduce it to its basic components, then tackle each component in turn.

All men are born free: just not for long.