All my characters have got a big slice of me in them. A big piece of me, because it's my dialogue and this is the way I think and talk.

Every time one of my books sells a million copies in paperback, Pan Macmillan gives me a gold statuette of Pan. I have about 20 of them.

When I vacate this sack of old bones I won't care what you do with it. Bury or burn it but don't make much fuss.

I don't want children. Why should I let some strange little monster into my life to destroy what to me is a perfect set-up?

Sometimes it is best for men not to attempt to interfere with destiny. Our prayers can be answered in ways which we do not expect and do not welcome.

There's nothing so aphrodisiacal for a woman as money and success.

At the age of 12 I won the school prize for Best English Essay. The prize was a copy of Somerset Maugham's 'Introduction To Modern English And American Literature.' To this day I keep it on the shelf between my collection of Forester's works and the little urn that contains my mother's ashes.