British society has never been cleansed of the filth of imperialism.

If you're going to write a memoir, try to be as honest and open as you can.

Hell is other people's fantasies.

The publishing of a book is a worldwide event. The attempt to suppress a book is a worldwide event.

It's true that the human body is more vulnerable than the products of the human mind.

It is often said by religious people that without its framework, there is no sense of right or wrong. My view is that religion comes after ethics.

Everest silences you...when you come down, nothing seems worth saying, nothing at all. You find the nothingness wrapping you up, like a sound. Non-being. You can't keep it up, of course. the world rushes in soon enough. What shuts you up is, I think, the sight you've had of perfection: why speak if you can't manage perfect thoughts, perfect sentences? It feels like a betrayal of what you've been through. But it fades; you accept that certain compromises, closures, are required if you're to continue.