I would hate to live in the country, unless I was living on a farm.

I like writing for children. It seems to me that most people underestimate their understanding and the strength of their feelings and in my books for them I try to put this right.

I am not a victim. I am an angry survivor.

All writers are liars. They twist events to suit themselves. They make use of their own tragedies to make a better story... They are terrible people.

All writers are thieves; theft is a necessary tool of the trade.

One good reason for writing novels based on your life is that you have something to read in old age when you've forgotten what happened.

A writer's work may be a coded autobiography, but only a very close friend could decipher it.

People's lives are in the care of the railways when they get on a train. The railways should remember that.

I met Richard Burton, an RAF cadet on a two-term course. I would have flirted more enthusiastically if it had not been for the horrid boils on the back of his neck.

I like stirring the pot - I think it's part of my duty, to shake people up a bit - make them look at things in a different way.

I dislike the word 'victim.' I dislike being told that I 'lost' my husband - as if I had idly abandoned you by the side of the railway track like an unwanted pair of old shoes.

I’m not capable of suffering completely. I never have. It goes only down to a certain point and then it stops. As long as there is that untouched point, it’s not really pain.

When will you ever accept the true ugliness of health?

Security is not the absence of danger but the presence of God no matter what the danger.

I try to communicate in a way that allows people in on what's going on. What's better than references to popular culture?

I don't think about being tired, I don't think about my technique. I just try to break their will.

Hillary Clinton's a fighter.

I'm reminded of the arm, and the body, and the appendage.

I thank all missionaries, men and women who quietly work hard for the Lord and their brothers and sisters.

I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame.

Yoga, unlike dance or mime, is not an expression of form for others to watch.