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

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

I think bankers will always get away with whatever they can get away with.

I made a series of wrong decisions about moderately recent books, and I've sold the rights to studios for ridiculous amounts of money and the films have never been made. That's the saddest thing of all, because they're locked up and no-one else can make them.

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

The longing we have to communicate cleanly and directly with people is always obstructed by qualifications and often with concern about how our messages will be received.

A good writer is an expert on nothing except himself. And on that subject, if he is wise, he holds his tongue.