To state a lie firmly, categorically and with great authority, undeterred by the fact that all concerned know it to be a lie, is one of the principal activities defined by the term practising law.

Most bad books get that way because their authors are engaged in trying to justify themselves. If a vain author is an alcoholic, then the most sympathetically portrayed character in his book will be an alcoholic. This sort of thing is very boring for outsiders.

Powerful men in particular suffer from the delusion that human beings have no memories. I would go so far as to say that the distinguishing trait of powerful men is the psychotic certainty that people forget acts of infamy as easily as their parents birth

Great writers are not those who tell us we shouldn’t play with fire, but those who make our fingers burn.

Perhaps in a book review it is not out of place to note that the safety of the state depends on cultivating the imagination.

When you close your eyes to tragedy, you close your eyes to greatness.

To be great is to assume great concerns.