Bitterness: anger that forgot where it came from.

To one's enemies: "I hate myself more than you ever could.

The study of maps and the perusal of travel books aroused in me a secret fascination that was at times almost irresistible.

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

At the beginning of human history, as we struggled to light fires and to chisel fallen trees into rudimentary canoes, who could have predicted that long after we had managed to send men to the moon and areoplanes to Australasia, we would still have such trouble knowing how to tolerate ourselves, forgive our loved ones, and apologise for our tantrums?

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.

The most attractive are not those who allow us to kiss them at once [we soon feel ungrateful] or those who never allow us to kiss them [we soon forget them], but those who coyly lead us between the two extremes.