It had never occurred to me that our lives, which had been so closely interwoven, could unravel with such speed.

There was surely nothing to indicate at the time that such evidently small incidents would render whole dreams forever irredeemable.

All you decent, well-meaning gentlemen, let me ask you, have you any idea what sort of place the world is becoming all around you? The days when you could act out of your noble instincts are over. Except of course, you here in Europe don't yet seem to know it.

I don't think it's any fun, even if you are one of the most respected authors in the world like Margaret Atwood, to keep being nominated and not win.

I think there is a huge difference between writers who have very big sales, and writers who have small sales. Even writers with very high reputations, even Nobel prize winners, often sell in very low figures.

You need to remember that. If you’re to have decent lives, you have to know who you are and what lies ahead of you, every one of you.

Its was one of those events which at a crucial stage in one's development arrive to challenge and stretch one to the limit of one's ability and beyond, so that thereafter one has a new standard by which to judge oneself.