Any visitor to an historic country town or city quickly becomes aware in his or her peregrinations that the most attractive houses in the centre are invariably the offices of lawyers.

The world is changed not by the self-regarding, but by men and women prepared to make fools of themselves.

Can we ever break free of the devices and desires of our own hearts? Might not our conscience be telling us what we most want to hear?

There are two options for any society: total prohibition as in a totalitarian state, or total license. Both avoid the ardours of decision. Both have the attraction of certainty. The difficult option is to decide where the line should be drawn and this, surely, is the responsiblity of any civilized and democratic country.

The greatest mystery of all is the human heart.

A regime which combines perpetual surveillance with total indulgence is hardly conducive to healthy development.

I don't think writers choose the genre, the genre chooses us. I wrote out of the wish to create order out of disorder, the liking of a pattern.