A good writer can watch a cat pad across the street and know what it is to be pounced upon by a Bengal tiger.
John le CarreGerald 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.
John le Carre