Quotes from Ken Follett

They looked impressively military, in

said: "I am the only president you have; if you would have me fail, then you fail, for the country fails.

Look, most Republicans are decent men who simply have a view of the world that is different from ours. But there is a hard core of fucking nutcases.

Habrá que cruzar ese puente cuando se llegue a él.

I went and looked at one of these great cathedrals one day, and I was blown away by it. From there I became interested in how cathedrals were built, and from there I became interested in the society that built the medieval cathedral. It occurred to me at some point that the story of the building of a cathedral could be a great popular novel.

It was the most romantic plane ever made.

I use a professional researcher in New York who does all the legwork, all that stuff which would take me days and weeks of calling, waiting for people to call back.

We all now tell stories by cutting from one dramatic scene to the next, whereas Victorian novelists felt free to write long passages of undramatic summary.

I enjoy learning technical details.

There is a real connection between Philosopy and fiction.

Culture clash is terrific drama.

For success, the author must make the reader care about the destiny of the principals, and sustain this anxiety, or suspense, for about 100,000 words.

Everybody takes what they life from the teachings of the church, and ignores the parts that don't suit them.

He had been granted his life's wish-but conditionally.

Well, for people who want to write best sellers, the best advice I can give is to say that the novel has to engage the reader emotionally.

Without books I would not have become a vivacious reader, and if you are not a reader you are not a writer.

The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century.

Thrillers have been traditionally very masculine books; the women characters often rather decorative.

With hindsight, we see that the Soviet Union never had a chance of world domination, but we didn't know that then.

I started writing stories in my spare time.

She loved him because he had brought her back to life. She had been like a caterpillar in a cocoon, and he had drawn her out and shown her that she was a butterfly.

I have quite a few different Bibles. Having rejected my parents' religion, I still think the King James Bible is the most important work of literature in English. None of us can help being influenced by it.

My favorite period is World War II, and I'm in the middle of writing my fourth novel set in that era.

With the World War II era, there's so much written material to draw on. When you go back to the 14th century, you have to imagine more.