And I found both literature and the church very dramatic presences in the world of the 1950s.

So I was very close to ordination. I was delighted to be ordained a deacon, which is the last step between, before becoming a priest. But then it all fell apart.

Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

The List is Life.

But I was also a brat. I used to belong to a gang that went looking for fights with other gangs.

But in practice Australia - the pluralism of Australia - sorry the sectarianism to an extent stopped at the time you took your uniform off after coming home from school.

I must apologise because I know all writers have memories of being on the outer because it's the children on the side of the playground who become the dangerous writers.

Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.

The principle was, death should not be entered like some snug harbor. It should be an unambiguous refusal to surrender.

It's only when you abandon your ambitions that they become possible.

In a way Australia is like Catholicism. The company is sometimes questionable and the landscape is grotesque. But you always come back.

Be a mirror of life. Let everyone see their own astonishing beauty in your mirror.

Tithing is a sacred gift to health and wealth.

Authenticity was the key to any deception. Sometimes authenticity was disgusting.

It's hard to be the first. It's almost as if I'm subject to a different level of inspection.

The tyrant should take heed to what he doth, Since every victim-carrion turns to use, And drives a chariot, like a god made wroth, Against each piled injustice.

I am not faithful but I am attached.

Every time you try to quit smoking you are actually getting closer to staying smoke free

Why can't people be both flexible and efficient?

The architecture we remember is that which never consoles or comforts us.

I believe you should wear whatever you feel confident in.