Oh, I think I've been entirely selfish with my career. I've done what I wanted to do, and not put myself out for anyone else particularly.

We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away.

I love a really good storyline.

In Hollywood films everything is tidied up at the end with clean lines and clean character definitions. It's sort of unsatisfying.

Other people have a much better idea of what I might do than I.

I haven't got a writer's discipline.

When you research someone, you actually get beyond your own preconceptions and become aware of the human being other than the image. You become empathetic and sympathetic in turn.

You can't be angsty all day or else it becomes a sort of pale angst.

I see myself as a small 'l' liberal, but not coalition liberal, necessarily.

We've all got a black book of missed opportunities.

I think we all have a selfish gene which rises to the top, sometimes. But then we're also all capable of a sudden magnanimity.

Why would you accept the Jesus of the Bible, if you have rejected the Bible of Jesus?

Live, love and learn

I've been lucky enough that I can gather all sorts of experiences and find inspiration by traveling around and by spending time with people I admire.

We need to see the connection between global warring and global warming, and it's oil. Sustainability is the path to peace.

Chopsticks or no chopsticks, it was the Chinese who first used knives and forks.

Yet, when the city sleeps; When all the cries are still: The stars and heavenly deeps Work out a perfect will.

Good typography, first, makes words readable. At its best, it does something more: it helps express the animating spirit of the ideas behind the words.

And when her eyes met mine, I felt something click, like a key turning in a lock.

The influence of mystery is the greatest influence.