Every profession is an island whose inhabitants earn a precarious living by taking in each other’s washing.
There was a certain usefulness in having a husband whom most people could barely tolerate: it deflected envy, for one thing.
It’s all biology. If it weren’t for two thousand years of the Christian tradition we wouldn’t think of pretending otherwise…Romance is the true opiate of the masses.
The sudden acquisition of power does not go to the head, but to the groin. In some, it promotes lust; in others, supplants it. Those on whom its effect is purely cerebral may indeed be counted as fortunate.
Some people, perhaps those with more dignity and less rage gnawing at the roots of their being, are nicer as failures, For me, it was like descending a deep pit that had no bottom
That is the worst thing about despair: it is not constant, any more than love is.
You know the only rule you need to know to get on in this country? ‘Never complain, never explain.
I am a Jewish mother. My dying words will be, “Put a jumper on
Just about the worst thing an artist can do is to try and be a nice person.
I’ve noticed that whenever institutions claim to be confident of anything it means the complete opposite.
The idea that any of their offspring could possibly be accused of involvement in criminal activities caused deep offence, even to parents who believed that property was theft.
Hatred bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
It’s the remarkable thing about academics: they look at Shakespeare and always see their own faces in him.
To thoughtful natures, events are like depth charges: the surface is calm, but the shock spreads further.