We are sad at home and blame the weather and the ugliness of the buildings, but on the tropical island we learn that the state of the skies and the a….

The Arab-Israeli conflict is also in many ways a conflict about status: it's a war between two peoples who feel deeply humiliated by the other, who w….

Responsible for wrapping the iron fist of authority in its velvet glove is Jane Axtell, head of the accountancy firm's Human Resources department..

We used to build temples, and museums are about as close as secular society dares to go in facing up to the idea that a good building can change your….

It is striking how much more seriously we are likely to be taken after we have been dead a few centuries..

There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life..

We don't really learn anything properly until there is a problem, until we are in pain, until something fails to go as we had hoped ... We suffer, th….

At the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding reality..

Everyone wants a better life: very few of us want to be better people..

Maturity: the confidence to have no opinions on many things..

Do you love me enough that I may be weak with you? Everyone loves strength, but do you love me for my weakness? That is the real test..

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..

Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough..

There may be significant things to learn about people by looking at what annoys them most..

Paying tax should be framed as a glorious civic duty worthy of gratitude - not a punishment for making money..

Memory is... similar to anticipation: an instrument of simplification and selection..

The more dignity is widely and freely available in a society, the less people want to be famous..

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

It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things..

Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And ….

I was uncomfortable writing fiction. My love was the personal essay rather than the novel..