It is always easy to question the judgement of others in matters of which we may be imperfectly informed.

I still occasionally need to struggle but I now fear it less. The weapons I fight it with are also my consolations: books, music, food, wine, nature.

Generosity is a virtue for individuals, not governments. When governments are generous it is with other people’s money, other people’s safety, other people’s future.

If this were fiction, could even the most brilliant novelist contrive to make credible so short a period in which pride had been subdued and prejudice overcome?

you'd like the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That must be the most futile oath anyone ever swears.

First-class travel, provided one hasn't to pay for it oneself, is the most insidiously addictive of life's luxuries.

There are two options for any society: total prohibition as in a totalitarian state, or total license. Both avoid the ardours of decision. Both have the attraction of certainty. The difficult option is to decide where the line should be drawn and this, surely, is the responsiblity of any civilized and democratic country.