I bumped into a woman I hadn't seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? 'You've lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!' 'Well,' I said, slightly nonplussed, 'the last time you saw me I'd just had a baby.' What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Aren't either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?' But no - my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!

I don't believe in magic, either.

I've never set out to teach anyone anything. It's been more of an expression of my views and feelings than sitting down and deciding 'What is today's message?'…

I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft... I'm laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met th…

You don't have to go to college to be a success ... We need the people who run the offices, the people who do the hard physical work of our society.

On se doit assemer en robes et en armes en tel maniere que li preudome de cest siecle ne dient que on en face trop, ne les joenes gens de cest siecle ne dient …

This mournful truth is ev'rywhere confessed - Slow rises worth, by poverty depressed.