I dont know whether you've ever looked into a miner's eyes for any length of time, that is. Because it is the loveliest blue you've ever seen. I think perhaps that's why I live in Ibiza, because the blue of the Mediterranean, you see, reminds me of the blue of the eyes of those Doncaster miners.

To begin with, it's true, she read with trepidation and some unease. The sheer endlessness of books outfaced her and she had no idea how to go on; there was no system to her reading, with one book leading to another, and often she had two or three on the go at the same time.

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

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

Why is it always the "intelligent" people who are socialists?

Nature played a cruel trick on her by giving her a waxed mustache.

Of course my standards are out of date! That's why they're called standards.