He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face.

You're so calm and quiet, you never say. But there are things inside you. I see them sometimes, hiding in your eyes.

It's those little daily incidents of life that are dramatic, and if you put a frame around it , suddenly they become much bigger and much more important than you ever imagined.

It's a rare book that wins the battle against drooping eyelids.

I find that when I come out of the library I'm in what I call the library bliss of being totally taken away from the distractions of life.

Don't write about what you know - write about what you're interested in. Don't write about yourself - you aren't as interesting as you think.

As I get older, I use less jewelry - necklace or earrings each morning, not both; my clothes are getting more basic - fewer colours and simpler cuts; and my make-up is stripped back to basics.

The sign of a masterpiece: A painting when there's a lack of resolution.

You know I don’t listen to market gossip,” she began, “but it is hard not to hear it when my daughter’s name is mentioned.

I have consistently loved books that I've read when I've been sick in bed.

I had walked along that street all my life, but had never been so aware that my back was to my home

Be Clever, Think Clever and Do Clever

I found Bombay and opium, the drug and the city, the city of opium and the drug Bombay

Reading maketh a full man conference a ready man and writing an exact man.

What good is a reputation not put to good use.

The funny thing about being Catholic, and I was raised Catholic, is that you identify with the Church, just as part of your character. Nevermind what you believe, it's just who you are.

It's great to have the freedom to enjoy your work and not feel like you're leaving your other life behind.

The man who tries to make the flag an object of a single party is a greater traitor to that flag than any man who fires at it.

Any belief worth having must survive doubt

Replace perfectionism with persistence. After all, in recovery and life, it's persistence that really pays off. Forget about perfection.

I suppose subconsciously I was thinking in terms of having the scale of it matching the scale of the images. Hence the sort of string quartet, jazz band and electronic stuff.