I am increasingly afflicted by vertigo where words mean nothing

Capable people do not understand incapacity; clever people do not understand stupidity.

When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.

When the print revolution occurred 400 years ago, human beings lost a certain mental capacity, including a sense of memory. In Africa today, you meet people who still carry everything in their heads, the way we used to. We rely on telephone books, address books. We have to look up everything.

A simple grateful thought turned heavenwards is the most perfect prayer.

It is the mark of great people to treat trifles as trifles and important matters as important.

All my friends' mothers were appalling women.