I was working for the Socialist International, after I left university in 1959, as a researcher.

If I were founding a university I would begin with a smoking room; next a dormitory; and then a decent reading room and a library. After that, if I still had more money that I couldn't use, I would hire a professor and get some text books.

The second half has always been our half. We didn't know what to expect (from University) so we paced ourselves on offense to stay in the game and feel them out.

lectures broke into one's day and were clearly a terrible waste of time, necessary no doubt if you were reading law or medicine or some other vocational subject, but in the case of English, the natural thing to do was talk a lot, listen to music, drink coffee and wine, read books, and go to plays, perhaps be in plays…

I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found.

The large German banks now seem to be more interested in competing with Anglo-Saxon banks in international markets than in nurturing their long-standing domestic lending business.