I was thinking about the legacy of ghosts in fiction, and specifically the moral power of those Dickensian ghosts. Because a ghost can be a very powerful but also manipulative element.

I tend to foster drama via bleakness. If I want the reader to feel sympathy for a character, I cleave the character in half, on his birthday. And then it starts raining. And he's made of sugar.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.

What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded . . . sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

Do those things that incline you toward the big questions, and avoid the things that would reduce you and make you trivial.

Developing our sympathetic compassion is not only possible but the only reason for us to be here on earth.

According to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving. Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now.

It's a big world, and I really like it.

Character is that sum total of moments we can't explain.

The generalizing writer is like the passionate drunk, stumbling into your house mumbling: I know I'm not being clear, exactly, but don't you kind of feel what I'm feeling?

Kindness, it turns out, is hard - it starts out all rainbows and puppy dogs, and expands to include . . . well, EVERYTHING.

The highest function of love is that it makes the loved one a unique and irreplaceable being.

Through learning to listen to our own intuition, it develops to a constantly available inner source of love, truth and wisdom. We can close our eyes, go within, and always receive the right guidance.

We feel that animals have the same rights as retarded human nchild because they are equal mentally in terms of dependence on others.

They tell us that "Pity is akin to Love;" if so, Pity must be a poor relation.

I'll not punish you for having an imagination.

People love things about Hollywood. People love to see the inside of what's going on.

Spiritual progress is like a detoxification.

Great men honour intelligence, little men honour stupidity.

My aim is to agitate and disturb people. I'm not selling bread; I'm selling yeast.

Stupid people can cause problems, but it usually takes brilliant people to create a real catastrophe.