I have spent my life waiting for something to happen,’ she said. ‘And I have come to understand that nothing will. Or it already has, and I blinked during that moment and it's gone. I don't know which is worse — to have missed it or to know there is nothing to miss.’ Falling Angels

I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call the library bliss of being totally taken away from the distractions of life.

You're so calm and quiet, you never say. But there are things inside you. I see them sometimes, hiding in your eyes.

It's those little daily incidents of life that are dramatic, and if you put a frame around it , suddenly they become much bigger and much more important than you ever imagined.

Although I always said that I wanted to be a writer from childhood, I hadn't actually done much about it until I came to London.

I wanted to wear the mantle and the pearls. I wanted to know the man who painted her like that.

Don't write about what you know - write about what you're interested in. Don't write about yourself - you aren't as interesting as you think.