There is nothing more thrilling in this world, I think, than having a child that is yours, and yet is mysteriously a stranger.

Many friends have said to me, 'I never know when you write your books, because I've never seen you writing, or even seen you go away to write.' I must behave rather as dogs do when they retire with a bone; they depart in a secretive manner and you do not see them again for an odd half hour. They return self-consciously with mud on their noses. I do much the same.

Every man should have aunts. They illustrate the triumph of guess work over logic.

Never worry about what you say to a man. They're so conceited that they never believe you mean it if it's unflattering.

I continued to do arithmetic with my father, passing proudly through fractions to decimals. I eventually arrived at the point where so many cows ate so much grass, and tanks filled with water in so many hours. I found it quite enthralling.

If you place your head in a lion's mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.

People who can be very good can be very bad too.