Don't pessimism and caution naturally go hand in hand?

I am not against marriage. I lived with someone for 11 years. But we weren't in love, and I thought that was quite important.

If we looked inside ourselves and remembered how insignificant we are, just for a couple of minutes a day, respect for other people would be an automatic result.

The rule is: don’t use commas like a stupid person. I mean it.

To some people, the fact that I am not married, or don't have children, would be the reason I have written a book on punctuation.

One of the things that all authors of fiction must learn to judge is whether - and in what detail - to describe the face of a character.

I used to help my dad with a stall selling eggs when I was about 12. People were so hard up they would ask for one egg. But mostly no one came by at all. It was very demoralising.