Scanning the newspapers and absorbing with a mixture of incredulity and indignation the enormities they report, I conclude that what England lacks today is, quite simply, sense.

The most evil person I ever met was a toss-up between Pablo Picasso and the publisher-crook Robert Maxwell.

If I see a door ajar, I push on it to see how far it will open, and if it opens wide I go through it.

The most intimidating world leader was Lyndon Johnson, who became U.S. President when John Kennedy was assassinated. He exulted in this power and liked to inspire fear.

It takes less than a decade for today's luxury to become a universal necessity.

The writer learns to write, in the last resort, only by writing. He must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them.

Long periods of recession, which tend to be self-perpetuating, are usually ended by war, or by preparations for it.