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" I hate it when people call me a 'national treasure.' It takes away your bite and makes you feel like a harmless old golden Labrador. "

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" Yes, I hate it when people call me a 'national treasure'. It takes away your bite and makes you feel like a harmless old golden Labrador. "

" I always have this image of a woman running across a desert carrying children, trying to find water and food, not knowing when they'll get that. And her feet are slashed up from the dry, hard earth... Even when I'm uncomfortable, sometimes in pain, or just cold... I think, 'Thank God for what I've got.' "

" I don't like to be noticed. The older I've got, the more reclusive I've become. I've got late-onset shyness. People are lovely. When they see me in the street, they don't ask for anything from me. They just say: 'I thought it was you, and I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your books,' but I can't seem to cope with it anymore. "

" I used to think I had nice arms, but I don't even think that anymore. "

" Live with all of your senses. "

" In the playground, I always made people laugh; I used to charge them three pence for an impression of a teacher. It kept me in toffees. "

" When all my kids were at home, I used to write from midnight onwards. "

" I do think that books, good books, free you. They make you feel a citizen of the world and things like class, sex and age don't matter. They're the greatest leveler. "

" I have a slight addiction to Diet Coke, and, of course, I absolutely shouldn't touch it because it makes the kidneys work really hard. "

" Every time I start a new piece of work, I spend a long while under the duvet thinking I can't do it. "

" I prefer to keep my secrets to myself, to the grave... and beyond! "

" Being poor with three small children is terrifying. You can't make any plans. You know you're not going on holiday, ever. There's no way you could ever afford driving lessons or a car. And the guilt I used to feel: they had holes in their shoes, and at one point, I had to send them to school wearing Wellingtons when the sun was shining. "

" In the early days, it was, you know, I used to weep while I was writing. I used to grab at any kind of anything, any hint, any tip of how to make it easy. "

" When I was a child, I dreaded blindness. We used to ask: 'Would we rather be blind or deaf?' I said I'd rather be blind, even though I was scared of it. I couldn't bear not being able to hear music or talk to people. "

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" I think we take it for granted that if you are with your husband after 30 years, then he is the love of your life. "

" I must have been a very strange child. I was very pretentious. Like Adrian Mole. "