To my mind, the two most fascinating subjects in the universe are sex and the eighteenth century."

I refuse to consign the whole male sex to the nursery. I insist on believing that some men are my equals.

"The thriller is the cardinal twentieth-century form. All it, like the twentieth century, wants to know is: Who's Guilty?"

"We Irish had the right word on the tip of our tongue, but the imperialist got at that. What should trip off it we trip over."

"Whenever people say we mustn't be sentimental, you can take it they are about to do something cruel. And, if they add, we must be realistic, they mean they are going to make money out of it."