But clever people all make one mistake. They all think everyone else is stupid. And everyone isn't stupid. They just take a bit more time, that's all.

My literary career was a fluke. Utterly unexpected.

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.

Don't try to write too much in a single session. One thousand words a day is quite enough. Stop after about four or five hours.

But only a fool sails into combat with nature

In a way I'm almost more rueful about the notion of having a non-ideological Labour party than I am about the personality of Tony Blair.

The true currency of life is time, not money, and we've all got a limited stock of that.