On the same line of reasoning if Australians were to be Australians or rather if Australians were as separate from any other nation as Australia from any other land there would be no jealousy between them on England's account.

I would rather drudge out my life on a cotton plantation till the grave opened to give me rest than to live with an unprincipled master and a jealous mistress.

It's part of a writer's profession as it's part of a spy's profession to prey on the community to which he's attached to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.

Too many problem-solving sessions become battlegrounds where decisions are made based on power rather than intelligence.

My tastes and inspirational artists were always rather eclectic and diverse.

Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.

I always believe it's better to have 30 imaginations working on a project rather than one imagination telling the other 29 what to do.

I like to have a thing suggested rather than told in full. When every detail is given the mind rests satisfied and the imagination loses the desire to use its own wings.

It is usually the imagination that is wounded first rather than the heart it being much more sensitive.

He has such a patronizing tone and manner and such a sarcastic sense of humor. I found him rather brutal a kind of elegant brutality which appealed. No I think he came pretty much off the page.