I suppose we all share this pipe-dream of being able to reach out a hand and find anything at will; what is amazing is that we think that good filing could somehow make it comes true. On the contrary: putting a letter into a filing system is like releasing your ferret in the Hampton Court maze.

Filing is concerned with the past; anything you actually need to see again has to do with the future.

I wouldn't say when you've seen one Western you've seen the lot; but when you've seen the lot you get the feeling you've seen one.

A food is not necessarily essential just because your child hates it.

It is a pity that so often the only way to treat girls like people seems to be to treat them like boys.

In my next life I want to be a pessimist. Then other people could spend all their time cheering me up.

The case against censoring anything is absolute: ... nothing that could be censored can be so bad in its effects, in the long run, as censorship itself.