For what's the point of breeding children, if each generation does not improve on what went before.

You're only young once, they say, but doesn't it go on for a long time? More years than you can bear.

I dislike pastiche; it attracts attention to the language only.

In my 20s I was in constant pain from undiagnosed endometriosis. With no prospect of a cure, I decided I needed a career - writing - that could accommodate being ill.

I am sure that all politicians seek the home connection with the voter. But [Margaret Thatcher] carried it to extremes.

One of the ideals [Margaret Thatcher] grew up with was self-denial and postponement of gratification, and yet she went about to create a greedy, short-term society. It is a paradox.

My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.