“Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are.”

“The intellect of the wise is like glass:it admits the light of heaven and reflects it.”

“In the end, it is impossible not to become what others believe you are.”

“The act of writing is the act of discovering what you believe.”

“Being a failure at living your own life as best as you can is better than being a success living the life somebody else says you should live.”

“You give them an environment where they feel they can grow. But also make bloody sure you challenge them. You make sure they realise learning is hard. Because if you don’t, if you only make it a safe haven, if it’s all clap-happy, and ‘everything the kids do is great’, then what are you creating? Emotional toffees, who’ve actually learnt nothing, but who then have to go back and face the real world … Find that balance, it stretches you, it stretches you as far as you’ll go.”

“You make love like a wounded panther. You are like a paintshop on fire.”