Most of what makes a book 'good' is that we are reading it at the right moment for us.

The mind does most of its best thinking when we aren't there. The answers are there in the morning.

Marriage: a deeply peculiar and ultimately unkind thing to inflict on anyone one claims to care for.

Don't despair: despair suggests you are in total control and know what is coming. You don't - surrender to events with hope.

On paper, being good sounds great but a lot depends on the atmosphere of the workplace or community we live in. We tend to become good or bad depending on the cues sent out within a particular space.

It's very hard to respect people on holiday - everybody looks so silly at the beach, it makes you hate humanity - but when you see people at their work they elicit respect, whether it's a mechanic, a stonemason or an accountant.