There are so many young women who tip over into being a facsimile: they don't really inhabit their lives or their bodies.

The parents' job is to be there for their kids, not the other way round. Troubles between parents need to be talked through with friends and not visited on the children.

Public intellectuals come from a range of areas and use their expertise to comment more widely than just their field. They want to make a contribution to public space, and they stick their necks out to do it.

Beauty has been democratised. No longer the preserve of movie stars and models but available to all. But while the invitation to beauty is welcomed, it has become not so much an option as an imperative.

If I were afraid of wrinkles, I'd probably be hiding in a cupboard, because I have a lot of them.

From a child's point of view, there is rarely a great time for parents to separate, even if there has been a lot of commotion and fighting.

Mothers unconsciously allow more latitude to sons, and open encouragement, and with daughters they treat them as they would treat themselves.