We must study love the way we study anything else that matters.
Compatibility is an achievement of love; it shouldn't be its precondition.
One of the most welcome aspects of office work is that you do not need to be fully yourself.
As in all areas, we can improve how good we are at loving another person.
Many people in the intellectual elite are very scared of shouting. They insist on very quiet murmurs.
The modern world thinks of art as very important something close to the meaning of life.
I do think that travel can be part of a journey of inner maturation, but you've got to do it right.
Travel is a lot like love.
Small issues are really just large ones that haven't been accorded the requisite attention.
To a shameful extent, the charm of marriage boils down to how unpleasant it is to be alone.
We are properly ready for marriage when we are strong enough to embrace a life of frustration.
Trying to be a sort of intellectual in the public arena is very irritating to people. They think, 'Why is this bugger on television?'
I've tried to write about Heathrow before and been escorted off the premises.
Emotional life is - alongside work - one of the great challenges of existence and is a theme that I keep returning to.
I love novels where not much 'happens' but where the interest is in the ideas and analyses of characters.
Many moments in religion seem attractive to me even though I can't believe in any of it.
When I see someone like Richard Dawkins, I see my father. I grew up with that. I'm basically the child of Richard Dawkins.
I know a lot about writing, but I don't know much about how other industries work. I've tried to use my naivety to my advantage.
I keep a picture of my beloved children close by. Also, water and plenty of pads and pens.
I waste most of the day, then finally start to write around 3 P.M., totally disgusted with myself for my wasteful nature.
My father paid for my education; then he made it clear that I was on my own.
There are few more effective ways to promote tolerance between suspicious neighbours than to force them to eat supper together.
I feel that the great challenge of our time is the communication of ideas.
I was a very un-literary child, which might reassure parents with kids who don't read.
Atheism is having a heyday in the born-again United States.
There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most.
I am a very aesthetic person.
I think I have grown impatient with just being a writer.
I like working with people. I believe change can only come through collaboration.
Learning to give up on perfection may be just about the most romantic move any of us could make.
