Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious.

The great tragedy of Alzheimer's disease, and the reason why we dread it, is that it leaves us with no defence, not even against those who love us.

Charm is always genuine; it may be superficial but it isn't false.

Children live in occupied territory. The brave and the foolhardy openly rebel against authority, whether harsh or benign. But most tread warily, outwardly accommodating themselves to alien mores and edicts while living in secret their iconoclastic and subversive lives.

It's possible to fight intolerance, stupidity and fanaticism when they come separately. When you get all three together it's probably wiser to get out, if only to preserve your sanity.

Childhood is the one prison from which there's no escape, the one sentence from which there's no appeal. We all serve our time.

No literary form is more revealing, more spontaneous or more individual than a letter.