..and only sticks and stones can break my bones.

I was born too late for steam trains and a lazy eye meant I'd never be an astronaut.

There's something rather wonderful about the fact that Oxford is a very small city that contains most of the cultural and metropolitan facilities you could want, in terms of bookshops, theatre, cinema, conversation. But it's near enough to London to get here in an hour, and it's near enough to huge open spaces without which I would go insane.

Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new.

From a good book, I want to be taken to the very edge. I want a glimpse into that outer darkness.

I find people confusing.

You love someone, you've got to let something go.