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

What a good thing there is no marriage or giving in marriage in the after-life; it will certainly help to smooth things out.

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

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

My thoughts went round and round and it occurred to me that if I ever wrote a novel it would be of the 'stream of consciousness' type and deal with an hour in the life of a woman at the sink.

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.

How absurd and delicious it is to be in love with somebody younger than yourself. Everybody should try it.