David Mitchell

Writing is probably one-fifth coming up with the stuff, and four-fifths self-editing again and again and again. ”

I've become a less brave traveller since I became a dad, but in the past I was more foolhardy than brave. ”

I'm not a great deep political thinker. ”

I don't have problems starting writing. I have problems stopping. I'm one of the last dads to arrive at school to collect the kids, because I want to get this paragraph just right. ”

A novelist needs to know his own strong points and weak points. ”

Writers are so used to books being optioned and then the movie never happens. ”

Loneliness is an integral part of travelling. I used to think it was the downside to travelling, but now I realise it is a necessary educative part of it to be embraced. ”

People like to say that East Asians in general, and Japanese in particular, are not very expressive: there's that term 'inscrutable.' But often, Europeans just don't get the Asian codes. Believe me, the message is being expressed OK. ”

Every relationship has its own language. It takes a long time to evolve and read one another. Just as it's true for people, it's also true on a national or cultural level. ”

If the human condition were the periodic table, maybe love would be hydrogen at No. 1. Death would be helium at No. 2. Power, I reckon, would be where oxygen is. ”