I have found it impossible to talk to anyone about my problems. I couldn't face the embarrassment, and anyway I lack the courage. Any courage I had was knocked out of me when I was young. But now, all of sudden I have a sort of desperate wish to tell everything to somebody.

Come right up close to me and I will show you something wonderful.

I'm right and you're wrong, I'm big and you're small, and there's nothing you can do about it.

There is something about very cold weather that gives one an enormous appetite. Most of us find ourselves beginning to crave rich steaming stews and hot apple pies and all kinds of delicious warming dishes; and because we are all a great deal luckier than we realize, we usually get what we want—or near enough.

What a fortunate fellow I am, I kept telling myself. Nobody has ever had such a lovely time as this!

The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.

I asked my mum, who's a very clever psychotherapist, and she says that kids love stories about death; they need it, they need to have stories that deal with death and explain it, as a place to put their fears.