138 Quotes by Wilbur Smith

I shot my first lion at the age of 14 when a pride threatened my father's livestock while he was away on holiday.

Every time one of my books sells a million copies in paperback, Pan Macmillan gives me a gold statuette of Pan. I have about 20 of them.

I know it's politically incorrect but I enjoy things like the kick boxing and cock fighting.

I put my soul into every book I write.

I want to be seen as a good storyteller. I'm a manipulator as well.

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

Despite the fact that I spend a lot of time in London, Switzerland and New York, Africa is the place I know and love best, and my heart will always lie here.

Herbert, my father, was born in Britain but went out to Africa in his teens to join his father and built up an 18,000-acre ranch in what was then Northern Rhodesia, providing work for the locals. He was my hero when I was a boy.

People don't really know themselves until they're 30. Like most people nowadays, I went to university, got a degree and wandered for a bit. I trained to be a chartered accountant, which I didn't much enjoy, and it was only slowly that the idea of becoming a creative writer gelled.