That was the rule. Break one of my rules once, and I’m bound to break many more.

Were the stars out when I left the house last evening? All I could remember was the couple in the Skyline listening to Duran Duran. Stars? Who remembers stars? Come to think of it, had I even looked up at the sky recently? Had the stars been wiped out of the sky three months ago, I wouldn’t have known.

How much do you love me?' Midori asked. 'Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter,' I said.

Give yourself five minutes to consider how you can turn a miserable situation to your benefit and that light bulb is going to click on.

For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. I’m no great runner, by any means. I’m at an ordinary – or perhaps more like mediocre – level. But that’s not the point. The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday. In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.

All of us are imperfect human beings living in an imperfect world.

What's really important here," I whispered loudly to myself,"is not the big things other people have thought up, but the small things you, yourself have