The thing that I think was very brave of my younger self was that he decided he would be an idiot. Just persevere. That feels brave to me: deciding that I'm going to damn well be this person that I've set my heart on being.

The thing about literature is that, yes, there are kind of tides of fashion, you know; people come in and out of fashion; writers who are very celebrated fall into, you know, people you know stop reading them, and then it comes back again.

Too many people spouting too many words, and in the end those words will turn to bullets and stones.

Even when things are at their worst, there's a little voice in your head saying, 'Good story!'

We who have grown up on a diet of honour and shame can still grasp what must seem unthinkable to people living in the aftermath of the death of God and of tragedy: that men will sacrifice their dearest love on the implacable altars of their pride.

The Republicans were not always insane. They might've had politics I didn't agree with, but they weren't always actually certifiable.

When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy.