Every Island To A Child

I Knew The Facts Of Death Before I Knew The Facts Of Life. There Never Was A Time When I Didn't See The Skull Beneath The Skin.

Gossip ... Was Like Any Other Commodity In The Marketplace. You Received It Only If You Had Something Of Value To Give.

It Is Surely Unreasonable To Credit That Only One Small Star In The Immensity Of The Universe Is Capable Of Developing And Supporting Intelligent Life. But We Shall Not Get To Them And They Will Not Come To Us.

Open Your Mind To New Experiences, Particularly To The Study Of Other ­people. Nothing That Happens To A Writer – However Happy, However Tragic – Is Ever Wasted.

The Weekend Break Had Begun With The Usual Resentment And Had Continued With Half-repressed Ill Humour. It Was, Of Course, His Fault. He Had Been More Ready To Hurt His Wife's Feelings And Deprive His Daughter Than Inconvenience A Pub Bar Full Of Strangers. He Wished There Could Be One Memory Of His Dead Child Which Wasn't Tainted With Guilt And Regret.