On murder

'It's a unique crime, the only one for which we can never make reparation to the victim. There is an invisible line that the murderer steps over, and which divides him from or her forever from the rest of us. Murder is an extraordinary act. It is quite different from anything else a person is capable of. I think the majority of us could commit quite atrocious sins, but I do believe that very, very few of us are capable of deliberately planning the death of another human being.'

P D James in the Sunday Telegraph