I think to be shot in a mountain valley somewhere or other is altogether less glorious than crashing an airliner into a skyscraper.

I don't think that what's going on in Bosnia is political activity. It's partly political, but it's partly atavistic as well.

Men killing other men really is an extraordinary phenomenon. Why does it happen? And how long has it gone on? And have the motives changed?

I think to be shot in a mountain valley somewhere or other is altogether less glorious than crashing an airliner into a skyscraper.

Nobody should teach anywhere for 25 years, but I did.

The revival of Islam dates from the early years of the 20th century. It was brought about by their humiliation, by their sense of how low they'd fallen compared with the West.

If Wellington epitomizes the English gentleman, Eisenhower epitomizes the natural American gentleman.

The great Chinese classics have always said that it's better not to fight; that the clever man achieves his ends without violence; that a battle delayed is better than a battle fought.

I think that black Africa is extremely terrifying. Black Africa can become a maelstrom of warring tribes without the outside world needing to feel the need to do anything about it.

I think Americans like the practical; they like the human. And I like both those things myself, and I try and put them into my books.

There are certain wicked people in the world that you can't deal with except by force.

Good men who exercise power are really the most fascinating of all people.

It's commonly said that people who've been ill in childhood and who've had an upset education never really regret that they do. It means that you don't look at the world in the way that other people do, and if you were inclined to be a writer, that's a help.

The great men of power who seek to change the nations they belong to usually are pretty terrible people.

The Islam of the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century was a poor thing. Nobody bothered about it. Islam was that funny sort of pure system of beliefs that depressed people in the Middle East held as their religion.

It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble.

I can't visualize the situation in which we nuke ourselves into extinction.

We may have to have a geo-political regrouping or major geo-political changes.

Even a pacifist should admire the military virtues.

I don't look to find an educated person in the ranks of university graduates, necessarily. Some of the most educated people I know have never been near a university.

Well, if they are trying to kill you, on the whole they're the people you have to kill, aren't they?

The leader of men in warfare can show himself to his followers only through a mask, a mask that he must make for himself, but a mask made in such form as will mark him to men of his time and place as the leader they want and need.

Some people are more terrorist than others.

Soldiers, when committed to a task, can't compromise. It's unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it's been done.

Poverty diminishes confidence. So if someone offers you a grain store, even if you really need a plough, you take what is offered to you.

Genre stuff is the most exciting stuff for an actor to play. I get to try new things, do things I would have never got the chance to do.

There is no scorn more profound, or on the whole more justifiable, than that of the men who make for the men who explain. Exposition, criticism, appreciation, is work for second-rate minds.

I'm now the elder in the position of doling out wisdom and trying to mend fences.

Many people struggle to make hummus that lives up to their expectations at home, and recreating a favourite brand or the stuff from your local deli is almost impossible.

I remain on 'SVU' because it is an incredible opportunity.

I'm not a very good painter, but I'm learning a lot.

If you say you're going to do something, you better damn well do it.

Happiness is a choice not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.

A lot of guys, especially the young guys, I try to do anything I can for them - on the field, off the field, anything.

I'm a private person. I'm shy about people knowing things.

It's the idea that when you say 'actress', people think of an airy, floaty, no-brain person, which of course you can't be if you are an actor. It is an unfortunate word, which is why, for a time, I hung on to 'actor', because it just seemed more workmanlike, you know, like you say 'woman doctor' not 'doctoress'.

'Radioactive' is the fall out of my life's inspirations, a testament to my ability to survive it all and to tell the story.

I like to have friends in the kitchen and make a big mess and use every pot in the kitchen.

Most of my career has been about standing on a stage performing music to an audience, and once the show is over, they go home and I go on to the next show.

Every man must play the part of his ambition. If you are trying to be a successful man, you must play the part.

In the stillness, a fly would not have dared clear it's throat.

It's difficult to wear such high Louboutins and also freestyle rap.

A thoughtful cup of tea brought to your bedside each morning means more to me than the huge bouquet of flowers bought once a year.

If anything, the bailouts actually hindered lending, as banks became more like house pets that grow fat and lazy on two guaranteed meals a day than wild animals that have to go out into the jungle and hunt for opportunities in order to eat.

Enjoy life while you can. It can be taken in a heart beat.

There are moments when very little truth would be enough to shape opinion. One might be hated at extremely low cost.

Why stick your neck out if you don't have to? If you're right nobody will remember and if you're wrong people will ask a lot of questions.

One of the things I do take some pride in is that if you had never read an article about my life, if you knew nothing about me, except that my books were being set in front of you to read, and if you were to read those books in sequence, I don't think you would say to yourself, 'Oh my God, something terrible happened to this writer in 1989.'