'In Memoriam' has been my companion for all my grownup life.

The scribbler's life is never done.

I've never had a study in my life. I'm like Jane Austen - I work on the corner of the dining table.

IQ in general has improved since tests first began. Psychologists think that this is because modern life becomes ever more complicated.

Reading about Queen Victoria has been a passion of mine since, as a child, I came across Laurence Housman's play 'Happy and Glorious,' with its Ernest Shepard illustrations.

When I think about atheist friends, including my father, they seem to me like people who have no ear for music, or who have never been in love.