The tour bus was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. Would it be possible to give them a ring to check they've not forgotten us?

If politicians and scientists were lazier, how much happier we should all be

He was gifted with the sly, sharp instinct for self-preservation that passes for wisdom among the rich.

The Roman Catholic Church has the unique power of keeping remote control over human souls which have once been part of her. G.K. Chesterton has compared this to the fisherman's line, which allows the fish the illusion of free play in the water and yet has him by the hook; in his own time the fisherman by a 'twitch upon the thread' draws the fish to land.

I regard writing not as an investigation of character but as an exercise in the use of language, and with this I am obsessed.

Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all.

Professional reviewers read so many bad books in the course of duty that they get an unhealthy craving for arresting phrases.