He had to deal all at once with the packed regrets and stifled memories of an inarticulate lifetime.

Life is the only real counselor; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue.

Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one.

I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite of its being adapted to the author's political views.

My parents got married when they were 16, and they never had any money.

Why on earth is the 'New Yorker' publishing puff pieces about pretty girls who go to parties? Does the 'New Yorker' ever run photos of cute boys just because they're cute and they come from money and they go to lots of parties?

The real literary editors have mostly been fired. Those that remain are all 'bottom line' editors; everything depends on the money.

Globalisation means that for a high-wage, developed economy like Britain's to compete we need to focus our efforts on the highly skilled, added-value sectors such as advanced manufacturing, creative industries, engineering and even financial services.