Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more ­effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it.

Daniel supposed he had a secret life. Most people did; it was hardly possible to live without one.

History, which interprets the past to understand the present and confront the future is the least rewarding discipline for a dying species.

Human kindness is like a defective tap, the first gush may be impressive but the stream soon dries up.

A nation that can't remember its dead will soon cease to be worth dying for.

Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other ­people. Nothing that happens to a writer – however happy, however tragic – is ever wasted.

You never forget the people who were kind to you in childhood, do you, sir?