Losing both parents at a young age gave me a sense that you can't really control life - so you'd better live it while it's here. I stopped believing in a storybook existence a long time ago. All you can do is push in a direction and see what comes of it.

Old age is not a disease - it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses.

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age 7, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. I was hooked.

Study until twenty-five, investigation until forty, profession until sixty, at which age I would have him retired on a double allowance.

In the digital age of 'overnight' success stories such as Facebook, the hard slog is easily overlooked.

The greatest writers of this age... are aware of the mystery of our existence.

The chief role of the universities is to prolong adolescence into middle age, at which point early retirement ensures that we lack the means or the will to enforce significant change.

My grandparents got married at a very young age, and a lot of what I think about marriage is based on their relationship. I watched them over the years and saw how they dealt with everything together, as a team.

My grandparents got married at a very young age, and a lot of what I think about marriage is based on their relationship.

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.