Her imperturbable self-confidence (Duchesse de Maine) caused Madame de Stael to write that the Duchesse believed in herself the same way she believed in God, without explanation or discussion.

My mother, who was quite sharp when I was young, became utterly mild.

If I write that it was a cold day, you can be sure I know it was a cold day because Pepys told us.

King Charles II liked women's company and well as making love to them.

My advantage as a woman and a human being has been in having a mother who believed strongly in women's education. She was an early undergraduate at Oxford, and her own mother was a doctor.

I love hearing details of writers' craft, as cannibals eat the brains of clever men to get cleverer.

I can't read historical fiction because I find the real thing so much more interesting.