This nice and subtle happiness of reading, this joy not chilled by age, this polite and unpunished vice, this selfish, serene life-long intoxication.

The test of enjoyment is the remembrance which it leaves behind.

There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.

When they come downstairs from their Ivory Towers, idealists are very apt to walk straight into the gutter.

Don't tell friends their social faults; they will cure the fault and never forgive you.

The denunciation of the young is a necessary part of the hygiene of older people, and greatly assists the circulation of the blood.

Eat with the rich, but go to the play with the poor, who are capable of joy.

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

Happiness is a wine of the rarest vintage, and seems insipid to a vulgar taste.

What I like in a good author is not what he says but what he whispers.

Style is a magic wand, and turns everything to gold that it touches.

Love is a monster.

Love well, laugh often and live well for Christ.

The meaning of life is simply the meaning we give to it.

I love going on BBC6 and BBC7 and listening to documentaries.

Dead women tell no tales. Sad men write them down.

But Time is a great traitor who teaches us to accept loss.

It's good to be here. At 98, it's good to be anywhere.

To seek these things is lost labour; Geese in an oyle pot, fat Hogs among Jews, and Wine in a fishing net.

Everyone has huge creative capacities. The challenge is to develop them. A culture of creativity has to involve everybody, not just a select few.

We always see the point of an iceberg. So I've always accepted the idea that people - they don't necessarily know everything I am.