Sybil's female forebears had valiantly backed up their husbands as distant embassies were besieged, had given birth on a camel or in the shade of a stricken elephant, had handed around the little gold chocolates while trolls were trying to break into the compound, or had merely stayed at home and nursed such bits of husbands and sons as made it back from endless little wars. The result was a species of woman who, when duty called, turned into solid steel.

It is possible to live well with dementia and write best-sellers 'like wot I do.

The truth is a fog, in which one man sees the heavenly host and the other one sees a flying elephant.

Inside every lump of coal there's a diamond waiting to get out.

Go anywhere you wish, talk to everyone. Ask any questions; you will be given answers. When you want to learn, you will be taught. Use the library. Open any book.

When I was a kid, I read the science-fiction shelves, and I read the fantasy shelves.

No one's policing their own minds more than an author. You spend a lot of time in your own head analysing what you think about things, and a philosophy comes.