In conservation, the motto should always be 'never say die'.

Remember that the animals and plants have no M.P. they can write to; they can't perform sit-down strikes or, indeed, strikes of any sort; they have nobody to speak for them except us, the human beings who share the world with them but do not own it.

The great ecosystems are like complex tapestries - a million complicated threads, interwoven, make up the whole picture. Nature can cope with small rents in the fabric; it can even, after a time, cope with major disasters like floods, fires, and earthquakes. What nature cannot cope with is the steady undermining of its fabric by the activities of man.

Aspirin is so good for roses, brandy for sweet peas, and a squeeze of lemon-juice for the fleshy flowers, like begonias.

I do wish you wouldn't argue with me when I'm knitting.

I can't be expected to produce deathless prose in an atmosphere of gloom and eucalyptus.

My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood.