My idea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer writes for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.

Everybody's youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.

An author ought to write for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmaster of ever afterwards.

It occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well.

Geometry is moribund. I want a lilt and joy to art.

Mind you, I've always been musical... Mother used to sit me on her knee and I'd whisper, 'Mummy, Mummy, sing me a lullaby do,' and she'd say: 'Certainly my angel, my wee bundle of happiness, hold my beer while I fetch me banjo.'

Forget market or publishers or whatever. Just write with fire and joy, and in my own experience, those are the stories of mine people have wanted to read.

I always enjoy the process, meeting somebody new and spending time with them and becoming friends with them. That has always been the joy of 'Strictly' for me, so I enjoy every year.