“But it is impossible to replace a person one has loved to distraction.”

The reason I collect good ideas is because plots themselves are very difficult indeed to come by.

Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children – as long as you make them laugh as well.

We all have our moments of brilliance and glory.

Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with totally different people.

Don’t gobblefunk around with words.

The prime function of the children’s book writer is to write a book that is so absorbing, exciting, funny, fast and beautiful that the child will fall in love with it.

Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable.

Writing is mainly perspiration, not inspiration.

Unless you have been to boarding-school when you are very young, it is absolutely impossible to appreciate the delights of living at home.

I’ve always said to myself that if a little pocket calculator can do it why shouldn’t I?

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it

But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance is there. The chance had to be there.

What a fortunate fellow I am, I kept telling myself. Nobody has ever had such a lovely time as this!

Some children are spoiled and it is not their fault, it is their parents.

To shipbrokers, coal was black gold.

The more risks you allow your children to make, the better they learn to look after themselves.

Meditation does not mean just sitting quietly for five or ten minutes. It requires conscious effort. The mind has to be made calm and quiet; at the same time, it has to be vigilant so as not to allow any distracting thoughts or desires to enter.

In our world, where hundreds of things distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.

May nothing distract me from You, neither noise nor diversions. O my Master, I would so love to live with You in silence.

Listening without bias or distraction is the greatest value you can pay another person.

Big productions, to me, are great – like, I love going to Vegas and seeing shows – but I think that sometimes it’s distracting, especially when you are there to listen to the music.

The more completely we focus our attention on our Creator and Lord, the less chance there is of our being distracted by creatures.

Until my ONE thing is done, everything else is a distraction.

Slowing down doesn’t mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.