I was brought up in a very naval, military, and conservative background. My father and his friends had very typical opinions of the British middle class - lower-middle class actually - after the war. My father broke into the middle class by joining the navy. I was the first member of my family ever to go to private school or even to university. So, the armed forces had been upward mobility for him.

What do you most value in your friends? Their continued existence.

I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.

Name a moral statement or action, uttered or performed by a religious person that could not have been uttered or performed by an unbeliever.

Islamophobia: a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.

I burned the candle at both ends and it often gave a lovely light.

In order to be a part of the totalitarian mind-set, it is not necessary to wear a uniform or carry a club or a whip. It is only necessary to wish for your own subjection, and to delight in the subjection of others.