There is a soak-the-rich attitude in the air, a feeling that if you have a lot of money you must have got it by some ghastly means. I can quite happily say there was never any family money. All the money we got was mine, just from writing books.

The Battle of Koom Valley is the only one known to history where both sides ambushed each other.

Grinning like a necrophiliac in a morgue.

I had a deprived childhood, you see. I had lots of other kids to play with and my parents bought me outdoor toys and refused to ill-treat me, so it never occurred to me to seek solitary consolation with a good book.

You had to deal every day with people who were foolish and lazy and untruthful and downright unpleasant, and you could certainly end up thinking that the world would be considerably improved if you gave them a slap.

Sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led.

I think you should be proud of not being worse than just deeply introverted and socially maladjusted.