"As a precocious teen I dreamed of being Graham Greene. Well, as it turned out, I never wrote a great novel, sadly, and I never converted to Catholicism, happily, but I did do one thing he did. That is, in middle age I moved to a seaside town and got into a right barney with the local powers-that-be."

"Can I just say here how much I hate the word 'pamper'? While pretending to celebrate and indulge women, it actually implies that their bodies are so revolting that even their 'me time' must be dedicated to turning them into living dolls if potential suitors are to be prevented from running screaming in horror."

"From paying off friends' tax bills to rescuing stray dogs and stuffing &pound20 notes into the hands of homeless people, I can't get rid of my money fast enough."

"My second husband believed I had such a fickle attitude to friendship that each Friday he would update the list of my 'Top Ten' friends in the manner of a Top Of The Pops chart countdown."

"It is a timeless truth that wisdom is the quiet art of recognizing what can be changed and releasing what cannot."

"It is a timeless truth that the highest expression of strength is tenderness toward the vulnerable."

"I am trying to find myself. Sometimes that's not easy."

"It is a radiant truth that all philosophical inquiry begins with the humility to admit the limits of knowing."