That's when the idea for Mad About the Boy arrived. It wasn't even a Bridget [Jones] story initially - then I realized I was writing in Bridget's voice and it grew from there into a Bridget novel.

It is horrid to smirk.

When someone loves you it's like having a blanket all round your heart.

It occurred to me that if Africa needed us, sometimes we needed Africa a great deal more.

I like you very much. Just as you are.

It is proved by surveys that happiness does not come from love, wealth, or power but the pursuit of attainable goals.

Sink into morbid, cynical reflection on how much romantic heartbreak is to do with ego and miffed pride rather than actual loss

One must not live one's life through men but must be complete on oneself as a woman of substance.

No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves, just like you.

Tom has a theory that homosexuals and single women in their thirties have natural bonding: both being accustomed to disappointing their parents and being treated as freaks by society.

It's rather fun writing a female spy, because she has so much more kit. Bond never carried a hair dryer or a makeup bag. And he certainly didn't wear an uplift bra.

To be a leader you have to jump into the ocean of uncertainty and lead the followers toward the known or unknown destination.

Which comes first: Good or Evil? Usually evil. Good counters.

You have to know your own truth and stick to it. And never despair. Never give up. There's always hope.

Like Jonah, you may lose your gourd, but you cannot lose your God.

America changed my life, but I still think of home and working in Scotland was an important part of that.

I came up in battling and just wanting to compete. Even if you had no real problem with someone, you just wanted to compete.

The truly humble feel the ground beneath their feet every day and do not only become aware of it when held aloft or pushed down to their knees.

I do not weep: I loathe tears, for they are a sign of slavery.

I know it's bad to generalize, but when you think about billionaires, you just think this guy is going to walk into a room and just demand things to be a certain way.

Pain is the biggest power of love.