Of all human activities, writing is the one for which it is easiest to find excuses not to begin – the desk’s too big, the desk’s too small, there’s too much noise, there’s too much quiet, it’s too hot, too cold, too early, too late. I had learned over the years to ignore them all, and simply to start.

My literary career was a fluke. Utterly unexpected.

Cicero smiled at us. 'The art of life is to deal with problems as they arise, rather than destory one's spirit by worrying about them too far in advance. Especially tonight.

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.

If you spend too long trying to avoid death, you will be dead in at least one way.

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

Politics is never a victory, it's just the remorseless grinding forward of events.