I'll declare my own interest right here at the start and admit that, like the vast majority of people, I find youthful looks appealing.

Sex, on the whole, was meant to be short, nasty and brutish. If what you want is cuddling, you should buy a puppy.

I have experienced jealousy, possessiveness, verbal abuse and violence from men, but I have also experienced jealousy, possessiveness, verbal abuse and violence from women, usually when I failed to respond to their advances.

When a man wants to relax, he will slob out and really relax. Or he will pursue a hobby - anything from building models to watching sport.

Rachel Cusk's books are like pop-up volumes for grown-ups, the prose springing out of the page to bop you neatly between the eyes with its insights.

When did women whose looks are not their living start conducting themselves like the simpering inmates of an Ottoman empire seraglio?

Gluttony and idleness are two of life's great joys, but they are not honourable.