“The very best people are like that. They don’t entangle you like flypaper.”

I was learning that among friends, a smile can be better than a belly laugh.

Growing up in a Canadian household that was more British than Big Ben,

It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world.

I dreamed of flying to England myself and visiting the places my family never tired of talking about.

As I stood outside in Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No … eight days a week.

I always woke up before the plane landed.

I am often thought of as being remarkably bright, and yet my brains, more often than not, are busily devising new and interesting ways of bringing my enemies to sudden, gagging, writhing, agonizing death.

All of it! – was held together by invisible chemical bonds, and I found a strange, inexplicable comfort in knowing that somewhere, even though we couldn’t see it in our own world, there was a real stability.

One that cackles at these capers and another that never gets much beyond a rather jaded and self-conscious smile, like the Mona Lisa.

Liberals have always been the most fervent Imperialists.

Not very good with death? Father was a military man, and military men lived with death; lived for death; lived on death. To a professional soldier, oddly enough, death was life.

I had thought for years, probably 30 or 40 years, that it would be a lot of fun to try my hand at a classic English mystery novel.

I grew up in a very British family who had been transplanted to Canada, and my grandmother’s house was filled with English books.

Whenever I’m out-of-doors and find myself wanting to have a first-rate think.

During a long career in TV broadcasting, I spent a lot of time contributing to other people’s creations.

Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend.

The only thing I can do is wipe my arse, brush my teeth, turn up and do the best work I can.

Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works.

In the long run, the world is going to have the best, and any difference in race, religion, or previous history will not keep the world from what it wants.

I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.

You’ve ruined me in all the best ways.

The best job a man could have would be a chef. They’d understand the long hours I work and the drive and ambition it takes to succeed.

If you listen to your soul you will know what is “best” for you, because what is best for you is what is true for you.

I’ve always shopped on the sale rack, and I’ve always been the girl flipping through the hangers trying to find the best deal.