One aspect of fast London life I have never understood, for example, is the custom of the gym. Why do people go to gyms?

There is nothing so perfect as pinball and a pint at 11 a.m.

Paradoxically, to be truly idle, you also have to be efficient.

The best thing that can happen to anybody is to be sacked or made redundant because often that's when you think, "I don't want to become one of the living dead. I haven't got anything to lose, now I can start to follow my own dreams."

The terrible thing about the internet and Amazon is that they take the magic and happy chaos out of book shopping. The internet might give you what you want, but it won't give you what you need.

When the day comes, I remember how much I loathe flying. I seethe at the humiliation of airport security checks.

A conclusion I’ve come to at the Idler is that it starts with retreating from work but it’s really about making work into something that isn’t drudgery and slavery, and then work and life can become one thing.