Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
If I ever write a book, it will be called 'Bottle Blonde.'
I'm a control freak. And more so now that I have children.
In person, George Clooney lives up to all your expectations.
I don't want my daughter to think she has to dress like Beyonce!
If I was a man, I don't know if I'd settle down long before I was 50.
It's an absolute disgrace that there isn't a books programme on the BBC.
When a father of a daughter dies, you elevate them. And you sort of deify them.
Sustaining true friendship is a lot more challenging than we give it credit for.
Having a baby is a disaster for your career. I don't think there's any sympathy.
Joy acts like a trampoline, everything that touches it bouncing right back off it.
Men that aren't threatened by opinionated, faintly aggressive women are in a minority.
We're naturally programmed to endure a muddle of emotions as we leave childhood behind.
It's perfectly possible to love your toddler but struggle to like them when times are hard.
Too often we forget that an ideal partner is someone who enhances an already full existence.
Whenever the party-girl tag gets attached to my name, it makes me want to snort with derision.
Once you've raised a child to adulthood, you can only be as demanding as your offspring allow.
The idea of exposing the British public to the full breadth of my personality isn't a good one.
In my child's-eye view, whenever I was exposed to pain, it meant that my mother had let me down.
Saturday and Sunday mornings are the only time the children are allowed to turn on the television.
I have had demanding jobs since I was 18 years old. I have had two sick days in all my working life.
For many, long-term friendships, rather than family ties, are the foundations for sustainable lives.
Seeing the world differently is one of the toughest incompatibilities to reconcile in a relationship.
I was told that when you hit forty men stop looking at you. It's true, until you slip on a mini-skirt.
As a species, we tend to be doers, forever shaping and reshaping the world to better suit our purposes.
Like cars, every relationship requires a bit of an occasional service, and fine-tuning should be compulsory.
I have a very childish attitude to books - a very non-analytic enthusiasm... like Alice falling down the chute.
I recognise my old self in a lot of the letters I get from single women who are unrealistic about what they want.
I was raised a socialist by two very socialist parents, and I still feel very animated about socialist principles.
The great advantage of being human is that we can employ rational thought and resolve to change our circumstances.
Emotions are products of our mind, and we can actually train ourselves to choose whether we banish or embrace them.
Finding extracurricular activities with your husband that are unrelated to children, family and work is a priority.
Reading a book you are not enjoying is a torture not to be undertaken without a reward. I leave plays at the interval, too!
It's so much easier to count our disadvantages than tot up the mitigating circumstances that generally outweigh the despair.
My parents split up, and a lot of things going on in the outside world made me want to immerse myself in an alternative world.
Kids are like glue: they can bond together, unlikely companions, even when there is little else left to maintain the connection.
I have a producer friend who despairs that I come across as rather frosty and never show the real me, and she might have a point.
I couldn't choose a favourite author, but two contemporary writers who have never disappointed me are Tim Winton and Alice Munro.
I hate the thought of my children being glued to a screen. Children only play on computers all day because their parents let them.
Only those with skin as thick as elephant hide can hope to sail through their teens unscathed by self-doubt and bouts of depression.
Men want children later, but women can't rely on being able to. So I'm all for scientific advances and the help they can give people.
What an unappealing responsibility that is to lumber any prospective lover with: the need to be a saviour, not simply an equal partner.
Personally, I think there's a lot to recommend being friends with your ex, and I'm glad to admit that I'm living proof of its possibility.
Coming from a broken home, I wanted to be as sure as I could be that my kids would have two parents who will stay together and bring them up.
As we mature, there are people with whom we run out of steam, but there are also those with whom a little straight talking would prove rewarding.
The sight of parents, children and grandparents all descending on a tented field to enjoy the pleasure of ideas and books renews my faith in humanity.
I've been accused of riding roughshod over others' emotions, and I admit, when I feel a friend is being over-indulgent, my patience is in short supply.
Many new lovers and spouses struggle to reconcile themselves with their partners' relationship history, but it's an insecurity I left behind in my 20s.
I wasn't allowed to be clever when I was young and blonde, but now I am 50 and an old blonde, I am allowed to have gravitas. With wrinkles comes wisdom.
Far too many girls' and women's romantic relationships are formed around a negation of their own worth and attributes rather than a confirmation of them.
I love physical books, can't bear to throw them away, and am drowning under the weight of my collection, but I do a lot of my work reading now on my iPad.