Life gives us no such handy markers - a storm comes, and far from this being a harbinger of death and collapse, during its course a person discovers love and truth, beauty and happiness, the rain lashing at the windows all the while.

The difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts.

I am conscious of trying to stretch the boundaries of non-fiction writing. It's always surprised me how little attention many non-fiction writers pay to the formal aspects of their work.

It was no longer her absence that wounded me, but my growing indifference to it. Forgetting, however calming, was also a reminder of infidelity to what I had at one time held so dear.

Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains.

The fear of saying something stupid (which stupid people never have) has censored far more good ideas than bad ones.

There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most.