A Neighbor Is Something That

Hope Is Like One Of Those Orchids That Grows Around Toxic Waste: Lovely In Itself - And An Assertion, If You Like, Of Indefatigable Good - But A Sure Sign That Something Nasty Lies Underneath.

The Reaction To 'aftermath' Has Been Far Worse Than To 'a Life's Work,' Yet I Find I'm Perhaps A Little Less Touched By It. In Both Cases, I've Coped Artistically By Believing The Criticisms Weren't Right. They Upset Me, But They Didn't Challenge My Understanding Of How To Write, Nor Of How Morality Functions In Literature.

A Sentence Is Born Into This World Neither Good Nor Bad, And That To Establish Its Character Is A Question Of The Subtlest Possible Adjustments, A Process Of Intuition To Which Exaggeration And Force Are Fatal.

Having Your Second Child, In Case You Were Wondering, Is A Lot Harder Than Having Your First, Except For Those People Who Find It Easier. I'm Afraid I Don't Have The Latest Figures To Confirm This.

Human Beings Have A Need, Generally, To Destroy Things. The Freudian Principle Of Civilisation Is Correct. There's Always, Always A Difference Between The Family Image And The Reality.