Hope is like one of those orchids that grows around toxic waste: lovely in itself - and an assertion, if you like, of indefatigable good - but a sure sign that something nasty lies underneath.

If love is what is held to make us immortal, hatred is the reverse.

Help is dangerous because it exists outside the human economy: the only payment for help is gratitude.

I absolutely don't dislike children - I would choose their company over adult company any time.

The distinctive feature of my family was intolerance of sensitivity and emotion - everything's great, it all has to be great all the time and why do you have to spoil it? Whereas probably the most fundamental and important thing to me has been defending my right to tell the truth about how I feel.

There are certain types of slightly hysterical human characters who, rather than creating, walk around with a sense of their own potential - it's as if they themselves were art objects. They feel as if their lives are written narratives, or pieces of music.

Honest criticism, I suppose, has its place. But honest writing is infinitely more valuable.