Robert Harris
Robert Harris
British author, journalist, and BBC reporter who became known for his best-selling historical novel, Fatherland. The work is a thriller set during World War II.
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth7 March 1957
book infinite possibility
A book unwritten is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and it immediately becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and it’s halfway to being just like every other bloody book that’s ever been written.
men purpose natural
The natural impulse of men is to follow and whoever has the strongest sense of purpose will always dominate.
men wings soul
Politics? Boring? Politics is history on the wing! What other sphere of human activity calls forth all that is most noble in men's souls, and all that is most base? Or has such excitement? Or more vividly exposes our strengths and weaknesses? Boring? You might as well say that life itself is boring!
might credit wells
Another of Cicero's maxims was that if you must do something unpopular, you might as well do it wholeheartedly, for in politics there is no credit to be won by timidity.
careers political ashes
What a heap of ash most political careers amount to, when one really stops to consider them!
party personality way
In a way I'm almost more rueful about the notion of having a non-ideological Labour party than I am about the personality of Tony Blair.
character ideas people
First comes an idea. Then, characters begin to evolve out of the landscape of that idea. And then, finally, characters dominate: plot is simply a function of what these people might do or be. Everything has to flow from their personalities; otherwise it will not be emotionally engaging, or plausible.
It implies a slight failure as a writer that you are reduced to being a ghostwriter for the money.
giving firsts lord
If one first gives himself to the Lord, all other giving is easy.
brave firsts definitions
To be brave, by definition, one has first to be afraid.
life-is currency
The true currency of life is time, not money, and we've all got a limited stock of that.
soul vampire spiders
Their souls were contagious. ... Bloodsuckers, spiders and vampires: that was what Lenin called them.
golf simple player
Golf requires only a few simple Rules and Regulations to guide the players in the true nature of its sporting appeal. The spirit of the game is its own referee.
writing years too-late
Of all human activities, writing is the one for which it is easiest to find excuses not to begin – the desk’s too big, the desk’s too small, there’s too much noise, there’s too much quiet, it’s too hot, too cold, too early, too late. I had learned over the years to ignore them all, and simply to start.