Anthony McCarten

Life is not a waste of time. ”

It's impossible to make a living in the arts unless you make a fortune. There's almost no in-between. Writers are either broke or rolling in it. Oddly, you can't tell them apart. ”

No murder or sin or act of barbarism or cruelty has ever been committed by a person fully absorbed in the reading of a book. By this fact alone, we can conclude that readers are nicer people, at least until they put the book down. When we are reading, we are better. ”

The New Zealand sense of humor is tough and realistic. Jokes are not surreal; they are about life and death and tough decisions. ”

I was born to a very large family, one of 7 kids. I grew up with carnivals and chaos all around me, so I can write anywhere. ”

When I grew up, my house contained only two books: the Bible and the 'Edmonds' cookbook. We were a working-class household. Books were a poor second to the television, which was always on, usually with me in front of it. ”

Before Churchill had done anything else, he was a writer. He believed to the core that words matter. They count. They can change the world. ”

Reading is essential to human life. When the last reader dies, humanity will be at an end. ”

As you get older, you become more vain. But as your looks slowly deteriorate, your eyesight worsens, so it all balances out. ”

At some point early on, I realized that three of the greatest speeches ever delivered were by Winston Churchill, and they were written and delivered within a four-week period of each other. ”