When policemen go to prison in England, they have as bad a time as a pedophile.

Every writer hopes or boldly assumes that his life is in some sense exemplary, that the particular will turn out to be universal.

More will mean worse.

Most writers need a wound, either physical or spiritual.

The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone.

Egotism exists everywhere, but it has a different flavor in England, where the tabloid culture goes much deeper. It's just the indulgence of vulgarity, the wallowing in vulgarity. As with everything English, there's a sort of irony to it. They write a great deal about these trivial people who have a certain eminence, always with a bit of, "Isn't it ridiculous that we are writing about this person?"

Love is blind; but it makes you see the blind man; teetering on the roadside . . .