“You have to understand the sea, he said, to listen to her, to look out for her moods, to get to know her and respect her and love her. Only then can you build boats that feel at home on the sea.”

“One of the great failings of our education system is that we tend to focus on those who are succeeding in exams, and there are plenty of them. But what we should also be looking at, and a lot more urgently, is those who fail.”

“Animals are sentient, intelligent, perceptive, funny and entertaining. We owe them a duty of care as we do to children.”

“It's the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom.”

“Don't worry about writing a book or getting famous or making money. Just lead an interesting life.”

“Admitting failure is quite cleansing, but never - pleasurable.”

“Marry someone who flatters you. Because I've written 80 books since 'War Horse' but when my wife reads one, all she says is, 'It's quite good, but it's not as good as 'War Horse,' is it?'”

“Wherever my story takes me, however dark and difficult the theme, there is always some hope and redemption, not because readers like happy endings, but because I am an optimist at heart. I know the sun will rise in the morning, that there is a light at the end of every tunnel.”

“There's a nobility in his eye, a regal serenity about him. Does he not personify all that men try to be and never can be?”

“Secrets are lies by another name.”

“Being his real brother I could feel I live in his shadows, but I never have and I do not now. I live in his glow.”