I am inclined to write that losing people is a part of life we have to accept, and then leave it at that. As an explanation it is simple, honest, and hits the nail right on its head; but there is far more to it than that. We cannot just write people off because they…

I can confirm two things, one of which you asked and one which came to my mind as soon as I saw your question: yes, I did indeed receive your last letter asking me about the 1001 Arabian Nights and the various translations which have been made available; and yes, not only did I reply…

I’m not sure whether, taking one of your hopes in your last letter, that life is necessarily fair, I am sure there are many people out there who would wish the checks and balances went in a different direction now and then, that they had a better hand to play, or that things they hoped…

One of my favourite sayings, although no one is really sure where it came from, is: May you live in interesting times, and it is fair to say we are living through some of the most interesting, contentious, history-making times imaginable. The amusing thing about this saying, this apparently pleasant wish which the English tend…

There is a belief in the modern world that anything to do with the latest technology must be good, must work properly, and is always worthwhile. I tend not to hold that belief, among other reasons for this: if technology is so perfect in what is produced, why do we need a new telephone, with…

One of the things which many people forget, when concocting their wonderful histories of the rise and fall of civilisation, it is that much relies on chance. Not everything is planned, and most certainly not everything planned comes out as it should. There are far too many factors involved, far too many things which we,…

I can well understand how a person who has been deserted or ignored for much if not all of their lives would suspect, after a very short period of time, that nothing has changed, that this relationship – in whatever form it might be – is going to go the same direction as all the…