The financial world is at the cutting edge of high technology.

It is perseverance, and not genius that takes a man to the top. Rome is full of unrecognized geniuses. Only perseverance enables you to move forward in the world.

A police state is a country run by criminals

My greatest regret as a writer is that I've never been able to include as many jokes as I'd like.

It implies a slight failure as a writer that you are reduced to being a ghostwriter for the money.

Humans have changed little over time. We think we've invented the modern world but they were making better speeches 2,000 years ago and grappling with issues of empire and terrorism.

Egyptologists, skilled in piecing together the papyri of lost civilisations, suddenly discovered that the same talent could be applied to working out the pattern of German radio traffic.