All men are born free: just not for long.

The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat’s mat is a story.

Smiley was soaked to the skin and God as a punishment had removed all taxis from the face of London.

During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.

Completing a book, it's a little like having a baby.

I think that all writers feel alienated. ... I know that I do. ... I still feel, as I think most creative people do, absolutely isolated.

The world of spying is my genre. My struggle is to demystify, to de-romanticise the spook world, but at the same time harness it as a good story.