I would have been a disastrous soldier.

As George Orwell wisely observed a generation later, the only way swiftly to end a war is to lose it.

We're taking part in a divine comedy and we should realise that the play is always a comedy, in that we're all ultimately ridiculous.

If you can't get a job as a pianist in a brothel, you become a royal reporter.

People who get on at school are the ones who play by the rules, and no one's going to get far in later life playing by the system.

The only redemptive feature of war is the brotherhood which it forges.

A Tory government with a decent mandate seems the only hope of tackling the fiscal catastrophe responsibly.

You cannot write down how people are good; you just know it, and cannot get away from it.

Lots of us when we're children believe 'oh well, if the world knew us as we really are, they'd know what wonderful, clever, brilliant, charming people we really are.'

It's miraculous how much easier the computer has made my sort of work.

When I am fishing, I think quite a lot about the fish, but I also think about the book I'm writing.

Is it better to be loved or feared?

True happiness is when the love that is within us finds expression in external activities.

I believe this not in the sense that it is part of my creed, but in the sense that it is one of my opinions. My religion would not be in ruins if this opinion were shown to be false.

Hold a true friend with both your hands.

In a world filled with causes for worry and anxiety ... we need the peace of God standing guard over our hearts and minds.

When you think back in history about producers and artists or writers who've had good synergy, a lot of times they date, or they're married, or there's a friendship and a kinship.

I don't like reality TV as far as it being scripted and not being true reality.

I do think that failure begets success sometimes, but it's often looked upon in Hollywood as not a good thing.

Theater going is a communal act, movie going a solitary one.

I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.