Racism. . . . fuelled by bitter assertions that no immigrant ever has the least respect for the environment in his adopted country because he never r… - James Hamilton-Paterson

I also wish I'd been born with a clearly defined talent for something, or else stupid.

We hang here, inquisitive carbon-based life forms, knowing that every atom of carbon now in our bodies was once in the interior of a star.

Sometimes in the company of others I find a disagreeable spirit of competitiveness kicks in and each person is shamed into spending rather more than he would have wished. This is a historically established syndrome, of course. One Magus going to Bethlehem would probably have sprung for a box of After Eights. Three Magi on the same trip found themselves laden with gold, frankincense and myrrh and bitterly comtemplating their overdrafts.