I was uncomfortable writing fiction. My love was the personal essay rather than the novel.

I learnt to stop fantasising about the perfect job or the perfect relationship because that can actually be an excuse for not living.

Differ though we might with Christianity's view of what precisely our souls need, it is hard to discredit the provocative underlying thesis, which seems no less relevant in the secular realm than in the religious one-that we have within us a precious, childlike, vulnerable core which we should nourish and nurture on its turbulent journey through life.

Being content is perhaps no less easy than playing the violin well: and requires no less practice.

One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?

Cynics are - beneath it all - only idealists with awkwardly high standards.

When I see someone like Richard Dawkins, I see my father. I grew up with that. I'm basically the child of Richard Dawkins.