It matters, it always matters, to name rubbish as rubbish; that to do otherwise is to legitimize it.

It's one thing to say, 'I don't like what you said to me and I find it rude and offensive,' but the moment you threaten violence in return, you've taken it to another level, where you lose whatever credibility you had.

A man who catches History's eye is thereafter bound to a mistress from whom he will never escape.

It may be argued that the past is a country from which we have all emigrated, that its loss is part of our common humanity.

Obviously, a rigid, blinkered, absolutist world view is the easiest to keep hold of, whereas the fluid, uncertain, metamorphic picture I've always carried about is rather more vulnerable.

The West sees Iran as an important force in the gulf.

I'll tell you what divorce hasn't taught me. It didn't teach me not to get married again.