It was evident to him that the world composed and recomposed itself constantly in an endless process of dissatisfaction.

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

All secrets become deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets.

Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader - not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.

When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.

Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time-rich and cash-poor.

I am often asked the question How can the masses permit themselves to be exploited by the few. The answer is By being persuaded to identify with them.

The three most important documents a free society gives are a birth certificate, a passport, and a library card.

Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake.

Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Prayer is our voice

It'd be great to be so famous that if I murder someone, I will never, ever, ever serve any jail time, even if it's totally obvious to everyone that I did it.

I despise the cowardly clinging to life, purely for the sake of life, that seems so deeply ingrained in the American temperament.

I was born and brought up in Liverpool with my clever little sister Jemma, who is 14 and wants to be a vet. My mum Jane is an administrator and my dad Peter is a taxi driver.

All my siblings became artists. One's a novelist, my brother is a painter, my sister was a costume designer.

I guess I'm just a natural warrior.

Peter Townsend Music is the silence between the notes.. So could it be said that dance is the stillness between the steps?

There is nothing so carking as the pangs of unsatisfied curiosity.

In the end it will not matter to us whether we wrote well or ill; whether we fought with flails or reeds. It will matter to us greatly on what side we fought.

I don't think the concept of "directing actors" exists in the sense that if you get what you order from an actor you'll always get bad acting. Every actor is scared just like a regular person.