Protons give an atom its identity, electrons its personality.

By the time I had finished my coffee and returned to the streets, the rain had temporarily abated, but the streets were full of vast puddles where the drains where unable to cope with the volume of water. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you would think that if one nation ought by now to have mastered the science of drainage, Britain would be it.

I became quietly seized with that nostalgia that overcomes you when you have reached the middle of your life and your father has recently died and it dawns on you that when he went he took some of you with him.

He had the sort of face that makes you realize God does have a sense of humor.

America is a very seductive place in terms of lifestyle and comfort, but it wasn't for me.

The food is excellent. The beer is cold. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted - stay up all night or eat ice-cream straight out of the container.