As somebody once said, we're not punished for our sins, we're punished by them.

Sometimes silence resolves a conversation confused by Mad Misconstruction.

I've always believed in survival.

It's a natural thing for people to say, you know, Who's in this book? I find myself get ting a little defensive. People come along and I'm waiting for that first question.

I feel like the writer observing the grief, but it is difficult to be detached from it.

Arnold Bennett was a writer I admired. He was actually taking notes at his father's deathbed.

An Irishman will always soften bad news, so that a major coronary is no more than 'a bad turn' and a near hurricane that leaves thousands homeless is 'good drying weather'.