I started writing books for children because I could illustrate them myself and because, in my innocence, I thought they'd be easier.

I was born too late for steam trains and a lazy eye meant I'd never be an astronaut.

It wasn't about believing this or that, it wasn't even about good and evil and right and wrong, it was about finding the strength to bear the discomfort that came with being in the world.

And it occurred to him that there were two parts to being a better person. One part was thinking about other people. The other part was not giving a toss what other people thought.

I like dogs. You always know what a dog is thinking. It has four moods. Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. Also, dogs are faithful and they do not tell lies because they cannot talk.

On the fifth day, which was a Sunday, it rained very hard. I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.

Everyone has learning difficulties, because learning to speak French or understanding relativity is difficult.

No one wants to know how clever you are. They don't want an insight into your mind, thrilling as it might be. They want an insight into their own.

You love someone, you've got to let something go.

For me, disability is a way of getting some extremity, some kind of very difficult situation, that throws an interesting light on people.

From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.

Everything has its own time

No matter how many times people try to criticize you, the best revenge is to prove them wrong.

The thing is, you can't ever really know how rotten someone will turn out to be.

I have an extensive library - every birthday when I was a kid my parents would ask what movie or book I wanted, so I have built up a big collection over the years.

Real obstacles don't take you in circles. They can be overcome. Invented ones are like a maze.

You don't need to go to the ends of the earth, you don't need to climb Everest to have a great adventure, it's invariably on our doorstep.

I do not go in search of poetry. I wait for poetry to visit me.

I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision.

Soccer is simple, but it is difficult to play simple.

W'en you see a man in woe, Walk right up and say 'hullo'; Say "hullo" and "how d'ye do. How's the world a-usin' you?