“I suppose I have found it easier to identify with the characters who verge upon hysteria, who were frightened of life, who were desperate to reach out to another person. But these seemingly fragile people are the strong people really.”

“I mean we desperately wanted to be in love with something or other. We were lonely people. It seemed more sensible to fall in love with another person who also wanted to fall in love, than to love a chair or a cat or an idea.”

“The True measure of a person’s success is to be a person of value.’ I knew people of value, people who kept their promises, people who were kind, people who were loyal.”

“It was the people who tried to seem normal all the time who were really messed up”

“Life'd be a lot easier if it were like a fairy tale," said Cassandra, "if people belonged to stock character types.""Oh, but people do, they only think they don't. Even the person who insists such things don't exist is a cliché: the dreary pedant who insists on his own uniqueness!”

“The people I know who thought brutal thoughts and acted in brutal ways - the racists, the sexists, the bigots - never seemed to doubt themselves. They were always sure that they were right... I almost envied them the strength of their beliefs. It must have made life so much easier for them.”