I have never been clever enough - or egotistical enough to spend 300 pages dipping into the sludge of my own subconscious.

By being so long in the lowest form I gained an immense advantage over the cleverest boys . . . I got into my bones the essential structure of the normal British sentence - which is a noble thing.

Chili-dipping is very easy, put it that way.

The day hums sweetly when you have enough bees working for you.

They are always saying God loves us. If that's love I'd rather have a bit of kindness.

How could skinny-dipping be against God's will? He gives us nine months of lessons on how to do it, then makes it feel like 'the good old days' when we go back to it.