Those important brain circuits, the ones that enabled most of us to avoid saying the wrong thing, were simply not there in Martha's case; or fired in the wrong order; or were short-circuiting. In othe...
They were also shoes that would give the wearer confidence: a person could speak with authority in such shoes.
They sang that song which distills all the suffering and the hope of Africa; that song which had inspired and comforted so many, Nkosi Sikeleli Afrika, God Bless Africa, give her life, watch over her...
These men were like leeches; they sucked away at the goodness of a woman's heart until it was dry and all her love had been used up. That took a long time, he knew, because women seemed to have vast r...
These days people seemed to suggest that you should talk about everything, even those things that people never talked about in the past, but did this make life any easier? She was not sure. In fact, s...
There was the Queen, and then there was Seretse Khama and our own people. That is called history, you see. But who asked them here? The aunt shook her head. There are some guests who do not knock. Tha...
There was no need for words, for there are times when words can only hint at what the heart would wish to say.
There was a teapot, in which Mma Ramotswe -- the only lady private detective in Botwana -- brewed tea. And three mugs -- one for herself, one for her secretary, and one for the client. What else does...
There are some people who should not be allowed on the road. Maybe they shouldn't even be allowed to walk anywhere, either. Maybe we should hang a large sign around their neck saying 'Very Dangerous',...
There are many women whose lives would be immeasurably improved by widowhood, but one should not always point that out.
There are lies you tell with your lips and lies you don't need your lips for. And once people start telling lies, then they become like spiders who weave their web about themselves. They become stuck-...
There are countless other instances of Auden’s delight in using words on the cusp of that damning dictionary verdict archaic. Never does one get the impression that these words are being used in a sho...
There are awkward moments from which one can retreat, and awkward moments from which there is no escape.
The trouble with having a conscience, she said to herself, is that it never sleeps.
The tree still celebrates its essential treeness through song, as nature will do whatever we impose on her. Birds still sing their ancient songs in the middle of a bustling city, with all its cacophon...
The readers of Isabel's journal were affected by the conversations within its covers-if nothing else, the livingroom of their moral imagination became bigger. And this must surely have some bearing on...
The queue for happiness was not well ordered, he thought; it stretched out and wound round corners, and sometimes, it seemed, the end was so hard to see.
The problem with being me, thought Isabel, as she walked along George IV Bridge, is that I keep thinking about the problem of being me.
The eyes are the window of the soul…it was such a well-worn adage, a cliché by now, but Isabel had read that neuroscience, which was validating so many intuitive, ancient beliefs about who we were and...
That’s perfect, he said. I’m sorry about that. It’s genetic, I think. My mother had exactly the same problem, and a cousin of hers too. We’re allergic to raw onion.