I suddenly had a little epiphany: all the books we own, both read and unread, are the fullest expression of self we have at our disposal.

The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score.

Record stores can't save your life. But they can give you a better one.

It's brilliant, being depressed; you can behave as badly as you like.

I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it.

For alarmingly large chunks of an average day, I am a moron.

It's a mystery of human chemistry and I don't understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home.

Hard is trying to rebuild yourself, piece by piece, with no instruction book, and no clue as to where all the important bits are supposed to go.

It's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party.

Radio football is football reduced to its lowest common denominator.

Everyone knows how to talk, and no one knows what to say.

The most attractive thing about you should have less to do with your face or body and more to do with your attitude and how you treat people.

You're a Scott, " the Dark said, his lips peeled back in displeasure, as if just saying the word was revolting."And you're Irish. I'm so glad we got that settled.

It is always better to try and fail than not to try.

The weapons of divine justice are blunted by the confession and sorrow of the offender.

I realize that when I moved out of my father's house I shocked and frightened him because I needed a room of my own, a space of my own to reinvent myself.

Even at our birth, death does but stand aside a little. And every day he looks towards us and muses somewhat to himself whether that day or the next he will draw nigh.

We are not makers of history. We are made by history.

I quit my job in the bank when I was 19. I took a chance. I went to Milan to study opera and singing. My father really supported me economically.

Memory, when duly impregnated with ascertained facts, is sometimes surprisingly fertile.

You couldn't be that good and not know it, somewhere in your secret heart, however much you'd been abused into affecting public humility.