Patrick White

As a result of the asthma I was sent to school in the country, and only visited Sydney for brief, violently asthmatic sojourns on my way to a house we owned in the Blue Mountains.

I developed the habit of writing novels behind a closed door, or at my uncle's, on the dining table.

When I was rising eighteen I persuaded my parents to let me return to Australia and at least see whether I could adapt myself to life on the land before going up to Cambridge.

I'd date someone younger or older; age doesn't matter to me. Or looks, really - it's all about maturity.

I went jogging up on Mulholland. In the middle of my run I had some form of asthma attack and couldn't even walk. I couldn't get a ride one block to my house. I thought I was going to die.

A kitten is chiefly remarkable for rushing about like mad at nothing whatever, and generally stopping before it gets there.