The thing I think about is that once you've done it, you then start to think about what you're going to do next. It's much easier to follow something that's not been as successful as this.

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

All the effort went into getting there and then I had nothing left. I thought I'd got somewhere, then I found I had to go on.

What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do.

I have never understood disliking for war. It panders to instincts already catered for within the scope of any respectable domestic establishment.

I've never seen the point of the sea, except where it meets the land. The shore has a point. The sea has none.

I've never forgotten that experience. But I had nobody at school that was either like Hector or Irwin. The masters had no idea what was expected of you in the scholarship exam, so you just had to busk it really.