I mistrust total competence. I've always felt life is a series of small disasters we try to get through.

I don't see why it should be remarkable that you can acquire a reputation for fairness and decency. Those are qualities shared by so many people. And the great majority of people I meet are decent people, just trying to navigate their way through the world without causing too much trouble.

Geography is the subject which holds the key to our future

You can't get a suit of armour and a rubber chicken just like that. You have to plan ahead.

I'd got over playing a character. People accepted who I was, and if I was incompetent and useless, they felt quite endeared to me.

My parents have been married forty-two years. I wonder how many of those were happy.

Geography prepares for the world of work - geographers, with their skills of analysis are highly employable!