In a day when, if you insulted a man it might cost you your life, you were probably more civil.

I very much dislike being interviewed by the kind of journalist who tries to dig into your private life.

You can't be happy if you're not tolerably happy with yourself. The addition of friends adds immeasurably to life.

When you're taking a fence on a horse, you don't think much; your body does all the thinking, and you're over or you're not over. It's much the same when you are doing a tricky thing with a pen. There are times when I'm writing very, very fast.

The first interviews I gave were entirely unpleasant. You have people trying to trip you up with impolite questions that have nothing to do with the books. It's simply vulgar curiosity, and I won't have it.

The longer your life goes on, the more death you face.