Writer

What is fascinating about marriage is why anyone wants to get married.

As for despair, it comes about when I have been a fool and hate myself and despair of my personality. I am prone to gloom, but not depression as such.

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.

At 'The School of Life', we take seriously anything that has to do with human fulfilment - and take note wherever insight on this subject can be found.

My greatest joy comes from creativity: from feeling that I have been able to identify a certain aspect of human nature and crystallise a phenomenon in words.

In Britain, because I live here, I can also run into problems of envy and competition. But all this is just in a day's work for a writer. You can't put stuff out there without someone calling you a complete fool. Oh, well.

You will often be in despair. You will sometimes think it's the worst decision in your life. That's fine. That's not a sign your marriage has gone wrong. It's a sign that it's normal; it's on track. And many of the hopes that took you into the marriage will have to die in order for the marriage to continue.

Menjadi menyenangkan mungkin tidak semudah bermain biola dengan baik; dan tidak membutuhkan latihan yang lebih sedikit.

Often we think love is a feeling: that you spontaneously experience it.

Kami benar-benar siap untuk menikah ketika kami cukup kuat untuk menjalani kehidupan yang penuh frustrasi.

I was a very un-literary child, which might reassure parents with kids who don't read.

I am conscious of trying to stretch the boundaries of non-fiction writing. It's always surprised me how little attention many non-fiction writers pay to the formal aspects of their work.

I love the idea of a university as away from capitalist values, where people can do things that don't immediately have to pay their way. It's like a monastery in a way, and that beautiful refuge has been destroyed by dogma about what this stuff is for.

On paper, being good sounds great but a lot depends on the atmosphere of the workplace or community we live in. We tend to become good or bad depending on the cues sent out within a particular space.

We are certainly influenced by role models, and if we are surrounded by images of beautiful rich people, we will start to think that to be beautiful and rich is very important - just as in the Middle Ages, people were surrounded by images of religious piety.

Barangkali ketika kehidupan kita berada pada masalah paling problematik mereka, kita cenderung paling mudah menerima hal-hal yang indah.

Parents don't reveal how often they have bitten their tongue, fought back the tears, or been too tired to take off their clothes after a day of childcare. The parent loves, but they do not expect the favour to be returned in any significant way.

Seks yang baik bukan hanya menyenangkan, itu membuat kita tetap waras dan bahagia. Berhubungan sekslah dengan seseorang membuat kita merasa diinginkan, membuat kita hidup dan kuat

What we typically call love is only the start of love. Our understanding of love has been hijacked and beguiled by its first distractingly moving moments.

The best cure for one's bad tendencies is to see them fully developed in someone else.