Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.

The private terror of the liberal spirit is invariably suicide, not murder.

I become an actor, a quick-change artist, as if I can trap the Prince of Truth in the act of switching a style.

Part of living, part of becoming a wise man or a wise woman, is to get to that point where you can have a friend for whom you are genuinely happy when he or she has a success. That's tough. Very few people get to that point. With writers it's next to impossible. You can't really bless a writer who's as good as yourself.

I'm a great believer in the hereafter, in karma, in reincarnation. It does make sense. I believe that God is not just a law-giver, but a creative artist. The greatest of all. And what characterises artists is that they want to redo their work. Maybe it didn't come off perfectly, so they want to see it done again, and improved. Reincarnation is a way for God to improve his earlier works.

I usually need a can of beer to prime me.

Murder offers the promise of vast relief. It is never unsexual.