I hate being moved. I hate that man who came in. So self-righteous, so cruel. He made fun of me, that's why I cried. You never did that. You led me into temptation by your - politeness.

I was irrevocably betrothed to laughter, the sound of which has always seemed to me the most civilised music in the world.

Life was cheap in the Middle Ages. It has become cheaper since. It is only in specific battles for specific lives that our culture is put to the test, and with it our humanity.

Intelligent or not, we all make mistakes and perhaps the intelligent mistakes are the worst, because so much careful thought has gone into them.

Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.

I imagine hell like this: Italian punctuality, German humour and English wine.

Critics search for ages for the wrong word, which, to give them credit, they eventually find.