It is true that too much belief can be bad for you...

Most poetry in the modern age has retreated to the private sphere, turning its back on the political realm.

In the end, the humanities can only be defended by stressing how indispensable they are and this means insisting on their vital role in the whole business of academic learning, rather than protesting that, like some poor relation, they don't cost much to be housed.

The conversion of agnostic High Tories to the Anglican church is always rather suspect. It seems too pat and predictable, too clearly a matter of politics rather than faith.

After you're older, two things are possibly more important than any others: health and money.

You end up as you deserve. In old age you must put up with the face, the friends, the health, and the children you have earned.

Talk is by far the most accessible of pleasures. It costs nothing in money, it is all profit, it completes our education, founds and fosters our friendships, and can be enjoyed at any age and in almost any state of health.

My age and health will never allow me to realize the dream of art I've been pursuing all my life.