Lying is the misuse of language. We know that. We need to remember that it works the other way round too. Even with the best intentions, language misused, language used stupidly, carelessly, brutally, language used wrongly, breeds lies, half-truths, confusion. In that sense you can say that grammar is morality. And it is in that sense that I say a writer's first duty is to use language well.

The wise needn't ask, the fool asks in vain.

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.

I don't write tracts, I write novels. I'm not a preacher, I'm a fiction writer.

We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark, and fantasy, like poetry, speaks the language of the night.

What is a woman's power then?" she asked. "I don't think we know." "When has a woman power because she's a woman? With her children, I suppose. For a while..." "In her house, maybe." She looked around the kitchen. "But the doors are shut," she said, "the doors are locked." "Because you're valuable." "Oh yes. We're precious. So long as we're powerless.

She'll die.' 'Aye. That's a consequence of being alive.