Jeffrey Archer

“I learnt a lot about myself, I learnt a lot about other people and the problems they have. If I was lucky enough to live to a hundred, how I will feel about two per cent of my life being that way, I don't know.”

“I put £150,000 into the stage production of Grease and have got back £1.5 million so far. It has been a fantastic success.”

“I've loved art for more than 30 years.”

“I'm not taking any interest in politics. I'm not involved in politics in any way. My life is in writing now.”

“When a book comes out I wonder if one person will buy it. It's agony. Of course it's stupid, but it's agony.”

“But I certainly made mistakes, for which I regret, I think most human beings in their lifetime make mistakes, mine ended up in two years prison - two very remarkable years from which I learnt a lot.”

“He was becoming aware that there was no such thing as over-the-top with Lawrence Davenport, as long as you were talking to Lawrence Davenport about Lawrence Davenport.”

“I wrote a million words in the first year, and I could never have done that outside of prison.”

“Sixty per cent of people entering prison today are illiterate.”

“..it must make sense to try & sign up the minister's man, who in the end is the one person who can ensure that you will be awarded the contract. The system seems to work well, & as long as a minister deals only with reputable international firms & doesn't become too greedy, no one complains. Fail to observe either of those two golden rules & the whole house of cards collapses.”

“..each ministry has an allocation of money to spend on projects agreed to by the government. Every Secretary of State is acutely aware that his tenure of office maybe very short, so he picks out a major contract for himself from the many available. It's the one way to ensure a pension for life if the government is changed overnight or the minister simply loses his job.”

“I think my attitude to human beings has changed since leaving prison.”

“At the end of my trial, I was rather hoping the judge would send me to Australia for the rest of my life.”

“Actually, Sydney is my second favourite city on earth, I love Sydney, but this is the greatest.”

“I do greatly admire Australian artists.”

“Well I certainly have learned and I hope I'm moving on and certainly two years of prison was a terrible punishment.”

“Chatterers are a menace.”

“I was allowed to ring the bell for five minutes until everyone was in assembly. It was the beginning of power.”

“The discipline required for athletics carried through to writing. You call it obsession. I call it discipline. By the way, I see nothing wrong with that.”

“What I have found is that real friends stand by you.”