Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms for its weaknesses.

In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast. Those who once inhabited the suburbs of human contempt find that without changing their address they eventually live in the metropolis.

The trouble with children is that they're not returnable.

There are three reasons for becoming a writer: the first is that you need the money; the second that you have something to say that you think the world should know; the third is that you can't think what to do with the long winter evenings.

Decarbonising our energy system is not some abstract regulatory requirement. It is an essential responsibility that we hold towards our children and grandchildren as the only way to effectively counter the threat of climate change.

I think there's a green side to John Kerry, if you like, that he's an environmental activist. His record on the environment is as best as you have on a pro-environment record of anybody in the U.S. Senate.

The dirty secret is that climate change is not really a partisan issue in Congress.

For the U.S., I think we should have a carbon tax, for environmental reasons.