"I stay right here and fight it out or die in the attempt."

"But as grandpop always said, there are just three ways to get ahead; sweat and genius, getting born into the right family, or marrying into it."

"I don’t think there is a trick I couldn’t do no matter how much I try. There are girls who can sit on their heads, but they can’t dislocate their elbows or smash their hips. Nor can they act. Anybody …"

"It takes intelligence and training, self-discipline and fine-sensibility, to gain renewed life through leisure occupation. America now suffers spiritual poverty, and art must become more fully America…"

"The old devil: John Mortimer's colourful personal life has provided material for biographers, tabloid scandals and his own fiction. Now in his 80s, he is tackling terrorism and New Labour" by Lucasta …"