The whole point of art, aside from the aesthetic pleasure it yields, is that it provides a bridge to the past; that seductive land where we all find certainty and consolation. Nothing quite spans this gulf with such immediacy as the art of popular song.

Everyone had a Japanese maple, although after Pearl Harbor most of these were patriotically poisoned, ringbarked and extirpated.

I drift along, thinking about the past a great deal. The past is so reliable, so delightful, and the best place to live. I end up there quite often, you know; it's very comfortable and dependable.

To live in Australia permanently is rather like going to a party and dancing all night with one's mother.

Australia is an outdoor country. People only go inside to use the toilet. And that's only a recent development.

I'm an immensely shy and vulnerable woman. My husband has never seen me naked. Nor has he expressed the least desire to do so.

It's an old Aboriginal word meaning 'Let's get together and have fun'. They gave us the word because they had no further need for it.