The telling of a story, like virtually everything in this life, was always made all the easier by a cup of tea.

We don't forget.... Our heads may be small, but they are as full of memories as the sky may sometimes be full of swarming bees, thousands and thousands of memories, of smells, of places, of little things that happened to us and which came back, unexpectedly, to remind us who we are.

That my philosophy of life is, as far as possible, one of enjoyment. I'm not nihilistic.

We all know that it is women who take the decisions, but we have to let men think that the decisions are theirs. It is an act of kindness on the part of women.

None of us knows how we will cope with snakes until the moment arises, and then most of us find out that we do not do it very well.

There was a distinction between lying and telling half-truths, but it was a very narrow one.

To lose a child ... was something that could end one's world. One could never get back to how it was before. The stars went out. The moon disappeared. The birds became silent.