A genuine love of learning is one of the two delinquencies which cause blindness and lead a young man to ruin.

Good things, when short, are twice as good.

Most British playwrights of my generation, as well as younger folks, apparently feel somewhat obliged to Russian literature - and not only those writing for theatres. Russian literature is part of the basic background knowledge for any writer. So there is nothing exceptional in the interest I had towards Russian literature and theatre. Frankly, I couldn't image what a culture would be like without sympathy towards Russian literature and Russia, whether we'd be talking about drama or Djagilev.

Actors! The mechanics of cheap melodrama! That isn't death! You scream and choke and sink to your knees but it doesn't bring death home to anyone- it doesn't catch them unawares and start the whisper in their skulls that says- 'One day you are going to die.

can only write about what bites you.

I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon.

It is better to be quotable than to be honest.