Chicken fizz! O Lord, protect all of us who toil in the vineyards of experimental chemistry!

If you remember nothing else, remember this: Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world.

To be most effective, flattery is always best applied with a trowel.

I was an early reader, and my grandmother, who as a child had been forbidden to read by a father who believed books to be frivolous time-wasters, delighted in putting her favorite volumes into her grandchildren's hands.

Although it is pleasant to think about poison at any season, there is something special about Christmas, and I found myself grinning.

The very best people are like that. They don't entangle you like flypaper.

My grandmother flew only once in her life, and that was the day she and her new husband ascended into the skies of Victorian London in the wicker basket of a hot-air balloon. They were soon to emigrate to Canada, and the aerial ride was meant to be a last view of their beloved England.