At eighty things do not occur; they recur.

Mark my words, when a society has to resort to the lavatory for its humour, the writing is on the wall.

Deluded liberal that I am, I persist in thinking that those with a streak of sexual unorthodoxy ought to be more tolerant of their fellows than those who lead an entirely godly, righteous and sober life. Illogically, I tend to assume that if you ( Philip Larkin) dream of caning schoolgirls bottoms, it disqualifies you from dismissing half the nation as work-shy.

Cloisters, ancient libraries ... I was confusing learning with the smell of cold stone.

But then books, as I'm sure you know, seldom prompt a course of action. Books generally just confirm you in what you have, perhaps unwittingly, decided to do already. You go to a book to have your convictions corroborated. A book, as it were, closes the book.

Definition of a classic: a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.

If you think squash is a competitive activity, try flower arranging.