I love writing about my job because I loved it, and it was a particularly interesting one when I was a young man. It was like holidays with pay to me. - James Herriot

If a farmer calls me to a sick animal, he couldn't care less if I were George Bernard Shaw.

Years ago, farmers were uneducated and eccentric and said funny things, and we ourselves were comparatively uneducated. We had no antibiotics, few drugs. A lot of time was spent pouring things down cows' throats. The whole thing added up to a lot of laughs. There's more science now, but not so many laughs.

He straightened up. This was a tough one. He folded his arms across his chest as he stared into space and took the long inhalation I remembered so well, I could see that he was a big man again, his shoulders spreading wide, his face ruddy and well-fleshed.