The letter of application ... should be a masterpiece of fiction, papering over all the cracks. Get it properly typed on decent writing paper. Never let it run over the page, people get bored with reading.

I wrote my earliest piece for The Sunday Times about being a young wife.

Never drink black coffee at lunch; it will keep you awake all afternoon.

Bachelors begin at thirty-six. Up till this age they are regarded as single men.

in a village you can't sack or fight with someone, as you'll find yourself stuck beside them in the hairdresser's next morning.

At home I have big vats of cabbage soup that I make to slim down.

I think we ought to have a kindness year, or a kindness century.