No one knew where you were before you were born, but when you were born, it wasn't long before you found you'd arrived with your return ticket already punched.

There's a lot of science in it, and as Slartibartfast [in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] said: 'I am a great fan of science, but I cannot do a quadratic equation.' I've never, ever been able to do one. I remember one occasion at Warwick University, when Jack and Ian were at their wits' end because I couldn't get it. I felt totally ashamed.

When people say "clearly" something that means there's a huge crack in their argument and they know things aren't clear at all.

The calendar of the Theocracy of Muntab counts down, not up. No-one knows why, but it might not be a good idea to hang around and find out.

You have to have really wide reading habits and pay attention to the news and just everything that's going on in the world: you need to. If you get this right, then the writing is a piece of cake.

I don't really plan. I'm almost intuitive about things.

Just erotic. Nothing kinky. It's the difference between using a feather and using a chicken.