Most of my work consisted of crossing out. Crossing out was the secret of all good writing.

I think good books have to make a few people angry.

...and I went into the garden and lay down and looked at the stars in the sky and made myself negligible.

Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new.

Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them.

No one wants to know how clever you are. They don't want an insight into your mind, thrilling as it might be. They want an insight into their own.

I find people confusing.