I’m not going to say that I tire of people thanking me for writing to them, I do appreciate that the contact offered, and perhaps some of the content written, can be of interest and, perhaps, opens new avenues of thought and interest for them in what could otherwise be a very boring or monotone…

One of the things I have always wanted to do, but never really looked into, is travel from Beijing to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian railway line, just for the experience  more than anything else, since it would be impossible to see most of the countryside or visit towns and cities along the way and, probably…

One of the things many people find difficult to understand is the difference between intellectual and intelligent people: many, it seems to me, wrap both together as one thing, as one form of person, and assume that an intellectual conversation, for example, is carried out by intelligent people in an appropriate atmosphere. But an intelligent…

One of the beautiful, and most frustrating, things about collecting anything, be it stamps, postcards, books or whatever, is that the possibilities seem to be endless. New works are published practically every single day, certainly when it comes to such valuable items as books, and the chances of ever having a complete collection are remote…

Speaking as an old person who has, theoretically, all his best years behind him, no future ahead, and who has been effectively written off by society, I tend to agree that beauty is merely a surface facet of a person and what is inside is of considerably more worth. And also, as I am sure…

It sounds silly, or might be called a terrible excuse, when you claim not to have had enough time to sit down and write a letter only to those who fail to appreciate how much another person has to do, regardless of their circumstances, and how much effort they normally put into their letter writing,…

I sometimes wish that a few of our high-and-mighty pseudo-intellectuals would take a calm look at history, at the origins of our species and come to accept that, while our society could well be the epitome of all values, it had a very late start and that thanks only to all the wild, uncultivated, heathen…

Imagination is a wonderful thing and I, too, often imagine myself sitting quietly somewhere, a cup of tea or a glass of wine, even a tumbler of good whisky, close at hand, and a book. Sometimes, late at night, I do manage to settle down and open one of the books patiently awaiting my attention…

There are few things left in life today that people understand as an acceptable excuse for not doing something, especially when it comes to not doing something they have expected – or demanded – be done and which, given the opportunity, they wouldn’t do themselves. Quite recently I was asked by a bank teller to…

It rarely happens that what we have planned works exactly as it we would wish or hope, simply because there are too many other factors involved which we need to take into account, which we need to weigh up as best we can and which, often, we have no notion of whatsoever. When it comes…