There is no object to life. To nature nothing matters but the continuation of the species. — William Somerset Maugham

She plunged into a sea of platitudes, and with the powerful breast stroke of a channel swimmer made her confident way towards the white cliffs of the obvious.

In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar, but in a city, with its blaze of lights, it is unnatural, hostile and menacing. It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers, biding its time.

It was not till quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say: "I don't know."