Believe, my child. Faith is the food of survival.

Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, don't be precious about your first draft, it's an architectural blueprint to a whole building, be your own worst critic, confront your weakness and remember it's a craft.

We cannot choose the times we live in. Just as, sometimes, we cannot choose whom we love.

No, what Great Aunt Winifred was suffering from was the persecution every happily single woman suffers: the predictable social condemnation of her independence and childlessness. Dorothy reminded herself of what she'd learned during a university course on feminist history (with a strong Marxist slant): spinsters are a threat to patriarchy.

To be desired by those who are themselves highly desirable is in itself an aphrodisiac.

You must appreciate that love is the last reason for which a man marries.

Danger is an aphrodisiac.