London is like the tropical bush -- if you don't exercise constant care the jungle, in the shape of the slums, will break in.

The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.

I believe that all wisdom consists in caring immensely for a few right things, and not caring a straw about the rest.

The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.

That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it.

There may be Peace without Joy, and Joy without Peace, but the two combined make Happiness.

The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them.

It's a great life, if you don't weaken.

Every man at the bottom of his heart believes that he is a born detective.

The robe of flesh wears thin, and with the years God shines through all things.

Without humility there can be no humanity.

Ah, sleep, clothe me in thy velvet cloak.

I'm losing weight, you notice, Pop?

Perhaps it's true that all men love their fathers, no matter how terrible the things they do to their sons: there is a part of us that remains forever in debt to those responsible for our existence.

When I was 14 or 15, our teacher introduced us to Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities.' It was just for entertainment - we read it aloud - and all of a sudden it became a treasure.

I know there's life after the Olympics.

The quality of news coverage has diminished, because giants of the print media are no longer being nurtured properly.

My whole outlook on life is, never judge a book by its cover.

Some people spend the whole of their lives sitting waiting for one train, only to find that they never even made it to the station.

Certainty is the mother of repose, and therefore the common law aims at certainty.

I came to believe that being a private detective was the work I was meant to do.