The first quarter-century of your life was doubtless lived under the cloud of being too young for things, while the last quarter-century would normally be shadowed by the still darker cloud of being too old for them; and between those two clouds, what small and narrow sunlight illumines a human lifetime!

In a small cathedral town where changes are few, there are always people who remember who used to live in a particular house, what happened to them there and afterwards, and so on.

People make mistakes in life through believing too much, but they have a damned dull time if they believe too little.

There are times in life when the most comfortable thing is to do nothing at all. Things happen to you and you just let them happen.

You will have Time, that rare and lovely gift that your Western countries have lost the more they have pursued it.

When you are getting on in years (but not ill, of course), you get very sleepy at times, and the hours seem to pass like lazy cattle moving across a landscape.

It's a very remarkable story." "Remarkable's a well-chosen word. It doesn't give you away.