I imagine the proverb about too many cooks spoiling the broth can be applied to writing as well as anything else. The poetical or literary broth is better cooked by one person.

I was so astonished that I could think of nothing to say, but wondered irrelevantly if I was to be caught with a teapot in my hand on every dramatic occasion.

Of course it's all right for librarians to smell of drink.

Life is cruel and we do terrible things to each other.

Once outside the magic circle the writers became their lonely selves, pondering on poems, observing their fellow men ruthlessly, putting people they knew into novels; no wonder they were without friends.

There are various ways of mending a broken heart, but perhaps going to a learned conference is one of the more unusual.

I stretched out my hand towards the little bookshelf where I kept cookery and devotional books, the most comfortable bedside reading.