The Terrible Privacy Of Maxwell Sim

Man is a lever whose ultimate length and strength he must determine for himself.

— Donald Crowhurst, quoted in The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall

Geography no longer matters because there is no near or far, the monetary sheath enclosing the globe has destroyed the geography of distances.

— Alasdair Gray, 1982, Janine

One day I will die, and on my grave it will say, ‘Here lies Reginald Iolanthe Perrin; he didn’t know the names of the flowers and the trees, but he knew the rhubarb crumble sales for Schleswig-Holstein.’

— David Nobbs, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

Through words, she offers us her shaming revelations.

Through words, she gives us her terrible privacy.

— James Wood, writing about Toni Morrison in the Guardian, 18 April 1992