I ought not to speak about the dead because the dead are all over the place.

One is and is not in the centre of the maelstrom of it all.

There are some things one remembers even though they may never have happened.

All that happens is that the destruction of human beings - unless they're Americans - is called collateral damage.

The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember.

Language in art remains a highly ambiguous transaction, a quicksand, a trampoline, a frozen pool which might give way under you ... at any time.

Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living.

I don't think there's been any writer like Samuel Beckett. He's unique. He was a most charming man and I used to send him my plays.

I never think of myself as wise. I think of myself as possessing a critical intelligence which I intend to allow to operate.

Don't forget the earth's about five thousand million years old, at least. Who can afford to live in the past?

This particular nurse said, Cancer cells are those which have forgotten how to die. I was so struck by this statement.

. . . confirmed libertines don't reform until they're tired . . .

You don't know a woman until you've met her in court.

Chronologically she is twelve, but emotionally she is older, and intellectually older still.

When it comes to the pinch human beings are heroic.

There's folks 'ud stand on their heads and then say the fault was i' their boots.

Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either.

A program that saves young people produces more welfare than one that saves old people.

I saw Jonathan after he faced the fear demon, you know. It showed itself to him as you. That told me all I needed to know. The greatest fear in Jonathan’s life is the love he feels for his sister.

Sometimes you can learn things from the way a person denies something. The choice of lies can be almost as helpful as the truth.

I'm attracted to the underrated characters.