Anne Enright

If your life just falls apart early on, you can put it together again. It's the people who are always on the brink of crisis who don't hit bottom who are in trouble.

I became a full-time writer in 1993 and have been very happy, insofar as anybody is, since.

I'm really lucky with the people around me. They know me, so they don't confuse the issues, really. They know what a book is and they know who I am and they know the difference between the two.

That strategy of buy and hold, which is the sound and sensible one for the individual, can have very dangerous and perverse effects for the market as a whole.

If you're not having a good time, find something else that gives you some joy in life.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.