Cambridge was a joy. Tediously. People reading books in a posh place. It was my fantasy. I loved it. I miss it still.

You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality.

As far as I'm concerned, if you want to find out about the last day of WWII or the roots of the Indian Mutiny, get thee to a books catalogue.

The past is always tense, the future perfect.

Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.

Every moment happens twice: inside and outside, and they are two different histories.

Don’t romanticise your ‘vocation’. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle’. All that matters is what you leave on the page.

Time is how you spend your love.

I am the sole author of the dictionary that defines me.

Don't confuse honours with achievement.

Pulchritude--beauty where you would least suspect it, hidden in a word that looked like it should signify a belch or a skin infection.

...we can never attain a maximum love of God with only a minimum knowledge of God

I don't want Christmas season to end, because it's the only time I can legitimately indulge in on particular addiction: glitter.

I'm a fan of half-hour shows that can be both funny and dramatic.

Predict the inevitable", she said, "and you're bound to be right one day.

People associate clothes with actual behavior, and it's kind of crazy. If you get shot in some Levi's you don't go after Levi's. It's not the clothes. It's always the people.

Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent.

Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy and delight to save.

Fragile egos are put on the line every day.

Trading decisions should be made as unemotionally as possible.

A Christian life is an unending engagement on the battlefield.