“ Every time you go to see Hamlet you don't expect it to have a happy ending...you're still enthralled.(Interview BBC Radio 4 Today 17 October 2012.) Hilary Mantel
“ So now get up.'Felled, dazed, silent, he has fallen; knocked full length on the cobbles of the yard. His head turns sideways; his eyes are turned toward the gate, as if someone might arrive to help hi… Hilary Mantel
“ Henry stirs into life. 'Do I retain you for what is easy? Do you think it is for your personal beauty? The charm of your presence? I keep you, Master Cromwell, because you are as cunning as a bag of s… Hilary Mantel
“ His suppressed grief becomes anger. But what can he do with anger? It must also be suppressed. Hilary Mantel
“ He thinks of making his fortune. We all know that money sticks to yours hands. No, It passes through them, alas. Hilary Mantel
“ I picked up a snake once. In Italy.Why did you do that?For a bet.Was it poisonous?We didn't know. That was the point of the bet.Did it bite you?Of course.Why of course?It wouldn't be much of a story,… Hilary Mantel
“ In the forest you may find yourself lost, without companions. You may come to a river which is not on a map. You may lose sight of your quarry, and forget why you are there. You may meet a dwarf, or t… Hilary Mantel
“ You know he will take the credit for your good ideas, and you the blame for his bad ones? When fortune turns against you, you will feel her lash: you always, he never. One day, when you are still adju… Hilary Mantel
“ When the cardinal came to a closed door he would flatter it--oh beautiful yielding door! Then he would try tricking it open. And you are just the same, just the same. He pours himself some of the duke… Hilary Mantel
“ He knows different now. It's the living that chase the dead. The long bones and skulls are tumbled from their shrouds, and words like stones thrust into their rattling mouths: we edit their writings,… Hilary Mantel
“ There's a feeling of power in reserve, a power that drives right through the bone, like the shiver you sense in the shaft of an axe when you take it into your hand. You can strike, or you can not stri… Hilary Mantel
