“Everyone knew as much as they needed to know to be happy.”

“I craved a form of naive realism. I paid special attention, I craned my readerly neck whenever a London street I knew was mentioned, or a style of frock, a real public person, even a make of car. T...”

“It's a matter of dishonour, and when it gets out, which it's bound to, this will be the one act you'll be remembered for. Everything else you achieved will be irrelevant. Your reputation will rest ...”

“I was irritated by the way he conflated his own shifting needs with an impersonal destiny. I want it, therefore...it's in the stars!”

“The constrained lives of his characters made me wonder how my own existence might appear in his hands.”

“In difficult moments its sometimes a good idea to ask yourself what it is you most want to be doing and consider how it can be achieved. If it cant, move on to the second best thing.”

“Despite a voluminous and often fervent literature on "income distribution," the cold fact is that most income is not distributed: It is earned.”

“What's the best way to make sure that the poor have a share in a country's growing wealth: Regulation? Taxes? Philanthropy?”

“But this inglorious revolution wasn't for me. I didn't want a sex shop in every town.”

“How many shots had to be fired to turn this child back to his home and anxious mother?”

“We are not subjects of a State founded upon law, but members of a society founded upon revolution. Revolution is our obligation: our hope of evolution. The Revolution is in the individual spirit, o...”

“To be out of touch with a society in which women have internalized their subjugation is an admirable thing.”