Of course, I should have done what doctors said and walked for miles every day and not eaten great amounts of butter. But then, life is life, and if we all did what they said we should do, it would be a different world.

My memory of my home was that it was very happy, and that there was more fun and life there than there was anywhere else.

I don't have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.

If you don't go to a dance you can never be rejected but you'll never get to dance either.

I don't think you're happier if you're thin or beautiful or rich or married. You have to make your own happiness. My heroines do not become beautiful elegant swans, they become confident ducks and get on with life.

I have great family and good friends; the stories I told became popular, and people all over the world bought them.

I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer.