“Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork — reading, writing, thinking — can.”

“If you can't think of what to write, tough luck; write anyway. If you can think of lots more when you've finished the three pages, don't write it; it'll be that much easier to get going next day.”

“The more you read and write, the better you think and live.”

“Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either.”

“I think all writing is a disease. You can't stop it.”

“I can't bare you when you're not amusing.”

“I can't believe it! Reading and writing actually paid off!”

“Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if they open it and read it, they don't have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don't have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or sold, or bought, or read.”

“You can't write. That's not writing. It's scribbling. Distasteful scribbling. Why can't you write properly?”

“You learn to write by writing, and by reading and thinking about how writers have created their characters and invented their stories. If you are not a reader, don't even think about being a writer.”