Is that not the Promethean fable, that the fire stolen from the gods will light men their way even while it burns their hands?

Experience belongs to the actor, but the story belongs to the teller. We write so we will never forget.

The twentieth century saw a professionalization of fiction writing, particularly in its second half and particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world - not so much mainland Europe, for example.

Our interaction with our friends, for instance, is in large part an interaction with representations in our own head of the people before us. That's why a friend can surprise or disappoint us.

No sight better expresses the politics of aid, the dynamics of the West and the developing countries, than the image of children, happy or in need.

Everything new is on the rim of our view, in the darkness, below the horizon, so that nothing new is visible but in the light of what we know.

That’s another argument for writing: making something that outlasts you.

When evil enters the world, do you think it comes with horns and cloven feet, billowing some foul stench?

Then, as now, I believe that the English use language to hide what they mean.

Our choices are made, our will flexed, in the teeth of events that overwhelm us and devour us.

It’s always nice to learn a thing or two from a novel, don’t you think?

There's so much to be grateful for, words are poor things.

An act of kindness is uplifting to the soul.

We take creative license with the fictional narratives that become our memories. Anthologized, these are the tales that become the story of your life.

Time flies like an arrow - but fruit flies like a banana.

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.

In nature there is no such thing as waste. In nature nothing is wasted; everything is recycled.

I have won many trophies in my time, but nothing will ever top helping win the battle for peace in my country.

Somebody will always break your records. It is how you live that counts.

I have vertigo. Vertigo makes it feel like the floor is pitching up and down. Things seem to be spinning. It's like standing on the deck of a ship in really high seas.

The world is ashamed of being virtuous.