People always assume that bachelors are single by choice and spinsters because nobody asked them. It never enters their heads that poor bachelors mig….

Bachelors begin at thirty-six. Up till this age they are regarded as single men..

If you feel compelled to give a New Year's Eve party, don't invite people to arrive too early or they'll go off the boil before midnight..

I'm not wild about holidays. They always seem a ludicrously expensive way of proving there's no place like home..

The letter of application ... should be a masterpiece of fiction, papering over all the cracks. Get it properly typed on decent writing paper. Never ….

it's a good idea to wait a few months before joining anything when you arrive at a village. A bookseller friend who retired to nearby Oxfordshire, an….

Youve simply got to go on and on with your family and friends and tell them how much you love them because you never know whether theyll be there tom….

I think it bespeaks a generous nature, a man who can cook..

I can assure you that the class system is alive and well and living in people's minds in England..

Although it is the biggest time-waster in office life, you must never underrate the importance of the memo. You will be judged by the volume of your ….

The aristocrat, when he wants to, has very good manners. The Scottish upper classes, in particular, have that shell-shocked look that probably comes ….

A lot of meetings are held to arrange when to have meetings. ... Meetings today are usually called conferences to make them sound more significant..

The memo's chief function ... is as a track-coverer, so that you can turn on someone six months later and snarl: 'Well, you should have known about i….

I have a theory that the secret of marital happiness is simple: drink in different pubs to your other half..

hurting other people is not excusable because you've been hurt yourself..

I'm basically a very happy person and I don't have to be anybody else..

Never drink black coffee at lunch; it will keep you awake all afternoon..

But I always seem to finish a book and then think, oh God, I've got to pay a tax bill, so I'd better write a novel, so I tend not to stop and learn w….

And I would really like to be a grandmother, but only when Felix or Emily meet the right person and are ready..

I love the long grass coming up to meet the willows..

Without doubt, keep a diary. From the day you're born, keep a diary, because we all forget things so quickly..