- Novelist | January 9, 1933 -
I wanted to be a great white hunter, a prospector for gold, or a slave trader. But then, when I was eight, my parents sent me to a boarding school in South Africa. It was the equivalent of a British public school with cold showers, beatings and rotten food. But what it also had was a library full of books.
Wilbur Smith
GreatFoodSchoolParentsMeGold
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.
TimeMeGoldBooksMillionEvery
I have done everything I have ever wanted to do. I have swum with tiger sharks, been charged by lions and elephants. I have been shot three times, chased by crocodiles and, God be praised, I've made enough money that I can continue to do all the things I want to for as long as I am able.
GodMoneyI AmEnoughLongTiger
My mother-in-law speaks not a word of English. I speak not a word of Tajiki. So I smile at her ingratiatingly and she fixes me with a beady eye.
SmileMeEyeSpeakMother-In-Law
I don't want children. Why should I let some strange little monster into my life to destroy what to me is a perfect set-up?
LifeChildrenMeMy LifePerfect
You don't turn out as many books as I did then by sitting around, being cozy with the family.
FamilyYouCozySittingTurnOut
I live in Cape Town but my favourite holiday destination is Hermanus, a little seaside town about a 90-minute drive away, over the pass and down to the sea, on the sunshine coast. It's where I love to escape to with my wife for a weekend every now and again.
LoveLiveSeaSunshineWifeDrive
As regards to personal safety, you do have to be careful not to put yourself at risk when travelling in South Africa. You don't want to go out exploring at night, for example.
YourselfSafetyNightYouPersonal
I grew up in Rhodesia on my father's ranch and every year he used to take us on safari in some remote area of the wilderness.
FatherWildernessYearUpTakeUsed
I go on a hunting safari at least once a year to Botswana, which is fantastic because we have a huge area of wilderness entirely to ourselves. My island covers roughly 55 acres, which again I have to myself, with nearly half a kilometre of private beach with my own jetties and boats.
MyselfBeachWildernessYearGoOwn
I read a lot of biographies and books with an African background.
BackgroundBooksReadBiographies
I know it's politically incorrect but I enjoy things like the kick boxing and cock fighting.
FightingEnjoyKnowBoxingThings
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