A Triptych In Which The Presiding Deities

I Detest Self-regard. If My Work Has Taught Me Anything, It Is That Self-aggrandisement Is Completely Unhistorical.

I Don't Find Myself Interesting As A Person And The Details I Find Boring, Quite Frankly. You Could Sum It Up In A Few Words Or Sentences Really: Came From Nothing. Self-educated. Luck. Energy. Curiosity. Ambition. That's It. Nothing At All Can Illuminate The Work As Far As I Can Tell.

Why Should A Novelist Not Also Be A Historian? To Force Unnatural Divisions Within The English Language Is To Work Against Its Capacious And Accommodating Nature. To Expect A Writer To Produce Only Novels, Or Only Histories, Is Equivalent To Demanding From A Composer That He Or She Write Only String Quartets Or Piano Sonatas.

There Is No Humiliation Worse Than The Consciousness Of A Wasted Life. It Stains The Spirit, Forestalls Hope, And Destroys Any Motive For Action Or Change.

All Cities Are Impressive In Their Way, Because They Represent The Aspiration Of Men To Lead A Common Life; Those People Who Wish To Live Agreeable Lives, And In Constant Intercourse With One Another, Will Build A City As Beautiful As Paris.